(John 16:33)
This might be hard to hear for the modern day Christian but "suffering is a ministry!" Jesus gave every Believer the promise that they would suffer tribulation because of His name. Jesus, like Job and so many other patriarchs, was given the "ministry" of suffering as a badge of honor and test for qualification and acceptance into the Kingdom of God.
Suffering goes with the territory. It is the Holy Spirit who administers the test. The ministry has a weightiness (heaviness, pressure) to it. The Hebrew word is "kabod" or "the glory of God through the sheer weight of His majesty, power and might." The suffering gets lighter the closer you get to God because there is a spiritual transference.
God's glory absorbs our pain, agony and despair and turns the anguish into love, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.
Suffering can't be avoided by sleep; it will chase you into you right into your dreams and be waiting for you when you wake up. Suffering begats hopelessness, frustration and turmoil. It also can create dillusions whereby the sufferer can miss the opportunity for an encounter with the Holy Spirit because of their depression and fear.
Did you see what happens? The suffering never leaves, God just changes your perspective, maturity and endurance. In essence, the suffering becomes your "witness" because the suffering is not for you: it is for the people God has assigned to you. Your witness is more than your testimony. Your testimony is a good story but your witness is signed, sealed and delivered by the Blood of Jesus Christ as a testimony of His sacrifice (suffering) so that we may have eternal fellowship with the Father. This is how a sufferer can be free; through the Blood of Christ!
Finally, the weight is also the "world." The world is simply translated "temptation." Jesus said that in this world you will have temptation; but don't be concerned because, I have overcome temptation (the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life). Selah...
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