Hebrews tells us we can respond poorly to suffering in two ways:

1. We can try to escape the suffering, by distracting ourselves, trying to fix it or making it go away, or…
2. We can get crushed by it, discouraged and depressed, concluding that God has given up on us.

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? – Hebrews 12:5-7

We are not expected to suffer perfectly. It can be messy. Jesus got close to the escape route when he asked the Father, “take this cup from me.” He got close to discouragement when he said, “why have you forsaken me.” But notice he didn’t reject God’s leadership in his life. He just wanted to be rescued.

Paul tells us in Romans that we can rejoice, because if we persevere, we will find hope, not be put to shame and be filled with God’s love through his Holy Spirit.

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. – Romans 5:3-5

As we avoid those two ditches, we find the path carries us along all by itself. If we just stay in the suffering long enough, we have endured (suffering produces endurance). If we endure enough difficult situations, it produces character. People with character have known God’s victory in many situations, and that produces hope. 

And hope doesn’t disappoint us, because we receive the Holy Spirit. People who have suffered deeply are no longer interested in just having their pain alleviated. They have a bigger hope. A heavenly hope. A love-of-God, Holy Spirit hope.