Writing of Jesus in Hebrews 5:8, we read that "though He was God’s Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered."
One of God's greatest gifts — learned obedience — lies hidden in what we suffer, in obligations we’d gladly forgo and in adversities we couldn't get rid of fast enough if we could.
Now suffering in and of itself is of no value. It's not what happens to us that is of consequence, but what we do with what happens to us. Two people can go through virtually identical kinds of adversities and one can come out of it angry, bitter, resentful, while the other person comes out at peace.
But what does makes our sufferings valuable is that they make available to us a one-of-a-kind opportunity: the chance to stay committed to our friendship with Jesus when we'd rather not — the chance to learn obedience.
Jesus Himself learned obedience in that precise way — by what he suffered — and if that’s how he learned it then that is how we’ll learn it too.
The good news is that in him we have the best of friends with us right in the middle of our adversity, and he understands and empathizes with our weaknesses, and far from condemning us he prays for us, and will always help us through our ups and downs to keep growing in our obedience to God.
