We Rejoice in our Sufferings by Fr. John Dresko

But then St. Paul says we rejoice in our sufferings. We don't just accept them, we don't just expect them: we rejoice in them. This sounds very strange to the human ear. Suffering for suffering's sake would be strange indeed, even sick. But St. Paul says we rejoice in our sufferings because they produce endurance.

Suffering in and of itself would be empty suffering. But suffering in faith, suffering knowing that we are created for the Kingdom of God, produces the endurance to keep going. An athlete strives for endurance to complete the contest. Suffering without faith will crush one it can turn one away from God, away from the Church, away from anything good. There is no endurance for anything if we suffer without faith.

But suffering with faith produces the endurance to continue our lives. We cannot avoid suffering in this world, no matter how hard we try. But suffering in faith gives us the strength to work our way through it, even if it is unto death. It gives us the ability to see through the suffering, beyond the suffering, to see that even if there is suffering, there is also salvation.

And this endurance, says St. Paul, produces character. Now this character is not just the way we think of "building character" being a nice guy, having morals, ethics, etc. Rather, this suffering produces endurance, which produces character or to use other words, reveals who we are. Our personhood. Am I the servant of God, John? Or just someone who is revealed as "faithful" when it is easy to be faithful and treasonous when confronted with a challenge to my faith? Am I a person on his way to the Kingdom of God; indeed, already dwelling there as much as it is possible in this world? Or am I an individual of this world whose end will come with the grave?

http://www.dneoca.org/articles/suffering0996.html