The purpose of suffering
1.It enables us to console others
Personal suffering enables us to console others. If someone dies a child, God will use him in the life of another parent who is coping with the loss of a child.
(2 Cor 1: 3-4) "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, that we may also console those who are in any tribulation, through the consolation with which we are consoled by God. "
2.It teaches us to wait on God
(2 Cor 1: 9) "But we had in ourselves a sentence of death, so that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead."
When Paul had already lost hope of living, he learned to trust, and God showed him his extraordinary power, the same power he used to resurrect his Son Jesus from the grave. What a wonderful perspective of his own suffering!
3.It frees us from pride and makes us dependent on God
(2 Cor 12: 7) "And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me exceedingly, there was given to me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted above measure."
It would be easy for anyone who had had the experiences that Paul had just told (2Co 12: 2-4) to feel some pride. So when the apostle asked God to remove the sting of his flesh and he did not want it, he understood that the reason was for him to have a humble spirit: "so that the greatness of the revelations would not exalt me excessively". Of course, Satan's purpose was to get Paul to abandon his ministry, but the Lord was going to use just that to make him humbler and prevent him from exalting himself.
Through that experience the apostle learned that God was not going to change his circumstances, but that he was going to change him, strengthening him so that he could face them. He understood that if he took refuge in the grace of God, no difficulty could destroy him, but on the contrary they would help him to change in the person that God wanted him to be.
Paul understood in this way that our weakness is what makes us really effective. Our weakness makes us depend on the grace of God and it is in it that we find the necessary strength to move forward.