Suffering Is a Sign of Divine Love: A Message of Faith and Strength

It is written in the Talmud (Berachot): “Anyone whom God desires, He afflicts with suffering.”

Five Types of Suffering

There are five types of suffering, each with its own meaning and purpose:

1. Suffering for atonement

2. Educational suffering

3. Suffering of partnership

4. Suffering of love

5. Suffering of rebuke

Not Fate — But Divine Merit

Do not say, “Fate has struck me.”
Understand this: it is not fate that strikes, but something that elevates and refines, from the love of God.

When a person accepts suffering with understanding and love, it creates a powerful impact Above, “shakes the heavens” and opens gates of mercy.

As it says: “Happy is the man whom You discipline, O God…” (Tehillim 94:12)

Faith Is Life

Faith gives life to a person. Without faith, a person is left with nothing. The first and most essential tool to remain strong and grounded through life’s challenges is unconditional faith in the Creator.

To know that everything comes from Above with complete Divine providence, and that the Creator does not intend to harm or break us, but rather to:

• Repair

• Cleanse

• Refine

• Elevate

• Rebuild us — both in this world and in the eternal world to come

What We Feel Now Is Only a Glimpse

It is not easy to understand.

Throughout our lives, even in the midst of difficulty, what we feel is only a gentle touch. The full embrace will come in the future, bringing us to the days of Mashiach, and ultimately when we return our souls after 120 years.

The Illusion of Darkness

We must understand that all the darkness, the heaviness, the feeling of being surrounded and closed in, is, in truth, an illusion.

If the mind could grasp what the soul already knows, it would be much easier to understand that what appears as darkness is actually a great light for the soul.

God’s salvation can come in the blink of an eye.

Signed,
Alon Paz
(Paralyzed and ventilated—yet believing, praying, and thanking God for everything with love)