I like what Tim Keller says here — in essence, that Christ’s suffering proves that your suffering has nothing to do with God’s love for you.
After all, God loved his Son more than anything, and yet his Son still suffered.
So when you’re tempted to think that your suffering proves God doesn’t love you, remember two things: a) that Jesus suffered more than any human who has ever lived and b) that the Father, according to Jesus, loves you just as much as he does Jesus.
In that vein, he quotes a beautiful song by Edward Shillito called “Jesus of the Scars” which finishes thusly:
“The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.”
By the way, the playwright Thornton Wilder said it beautifully: “In Love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve.”
