How Do We Bear Suffering?

        Suffering is any form of discomfort that we feel. Some suffering is cast upon us by others, others by nature. Some though are self inflicted. Regardless, all suffering hurts. 

         Take for example the suffering some feel in their work places. It could be at certain times we have an impossible boss. Despite all you do, or try to accomplish he/she still complains. In spite of all the targets you meet, he still pokes holes at your work. How do we bear such suffering? Should we simply throw in the towel and walk out as a result of such burden? Or do we stay steadfast, unruffled, and continue to steer the course? What of when you are in charge of a project and your co-workers consistently look for ways to derail your work? What is the best action to take under this circumstance? Should we stand or run? Should we cry and crumble under the yoke?
        What of when a loved one is sick and we cannot do much to alleviate that suffering? Other times it could be it is a sickness that is difficult to diagnose, or perhaps we lack money with which to obtain medical care for them. What of the pains of a mother, or any parent who cannot provide food and shelter for their family? We also remember the homeless who sleep on the streets, including some poor countries where children feed out of the trash? How can they bear their suffering in certain circumstances when the rulers have hijacked all the means of production/industry and assigned them only to their relatives, whilst the rest of the populace wallow in abject poverty?
       What of the suffering borne by people who have difficult spouses who hammer on them all the time and make their lives some living hell? What of the suffering of children who are made to face the fights and eventually the separation caused by broken homes? Remember parents who face the challenges posed by disobedient children, who persist on their evil paths and refuse to tow the ways of righteousness, regardless of how hard their parents try.Yet, other times we suffer as a result of some wrong choices we made in life, like joining gangs, doing drugs, being lured into prostitution, and the likes.
       The gratifying aspect about suffering though is that every person in the world suffers in one way or the other. Are the rich spared from suffering, not at all? Though they have monetary aggrandizement does not mean they can not suffer from loneliness, break up of a relationship and any other stresses that life can pose. Did Jesus Christ not suffer? Of course He did. No one is spared of suffering. It is how we bear it that matters.
      One thing though about any form of suffering is that for a start, we have to learn how to bear them. How can we bear suffering, when many times, as a result of our weak, human nature they tend to overwhelm us? Our suffering can be borne when we consistently take them to God. He is that one being who can help us bear our burdens, for did not Christ say in the bible, "Come to me all ye that are heavily burdened, take up your yoke and learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart, for my yoke is easy and my burden light". 
     That we hand our burdens to Jesus Christ, and petition Him daily does not mean that we don't endeavor every day to look for ways to work around an impossible boss, or that we do not continue to look for genuine ways to alleviate our poverty, that we don't continue to strive for ways to turn around an impossible child, or when erring, that we shouldn't strive to correct our wrongful paths, or stop looking for ways to get along with a challenging spouse. We are also called on to unite the pains of our suffering to the suffering Christ endured during his life on earth, and those of the early martyrs who died for the faith. That way, our suffering is not wasted, but gets spiritualized. With Christ on our side though, we are daily inspired on how to solve some of our problems.The remainder that are not alleviated, it means that God wants us to continue to carry them a while longer. Do not waver though because you will eventually prevail, because His grace alone is sufficient.