To me, joy and suffering seem mutually exclusive - I have one or the other - never both at once. Yet, joy is the response to suffering which God consistently encourages in His Word.
Enlisting trials won’t make them easy, but it will cut them down to manageable size.
As a Stage IV melanoma survivor, the purifying fires of pain have swept through my own heart. Struggles have the potential to revise values and refocus priorities, setting us free from the empty desires and tyrannous demands of life.
Step 8 gives me a chance to list those I have hurt and become willing or courageous to “love” them - whether they receive it or not. This step opens the door for me to see the pain I’ve caused others and set me free from making my pain master over my feelings and thoughts about myself.