Suffering

In meditating on the effect of suffering on the soul, it seems that in suffering one either draws closer to God, or runs further; time of crisis is a "window of opportunity" that in the good times we don't usually find. Since God is spirit and the soul is spiritual, to "see" God means to "know God," and God desires to be known, but we most of the time are too busy to stop and look, in the recesses of our soul, for the still quiet voice of God. The soul is our "window" to God, because we are made in His image, thus spirit looks to spirit to see reflected He Who is in whose image we are made. But our soul, often stained with sin, gives a poor reflection, and we flee what we think we see. In suffering, however, the opportunity to withdraw from the flesh presents itself, for we are lost to our own power, and turn to His power to help us, and we seek His help to clean that window of our soul. Suffering is the solvent, the "windex," so to speak, which helps us to see. Thus some saints would say "If you only knew the joy in suffering, you would ask for nothing else."