HE died for you, so live for HIM

I opened up to CNN the other day, only to find the headline: 138 Die in 48 hours. The story was about how in the capital of Haiti, a cholera outbreak had killed 138 men, women, and children in less than 2 days, and now, the death toll is over 200. What is even more astonishing, is how, less than a year ago, a devastating earthquake hammered the country. Its crazy to think about how much these people have suffered. First a massive earthquake that kills a ridiculous amount of people, and then this, a deadly outbreak of a vicious disease that is rapidly spreading, and leaving a path of fallen souls behind it in its tracks.
A few months ago, I sat with a group of people in my brother Nicks house, and we discussed suffering, why people suffer, and how suffering affects the world, and Christians. When asked why people suffer, my thought is that people suffer to bring them closer to Christ. Its a little bit weird if you think about it, that the God who created us all and who knows what will happen to us all allows us to suffer, but if you really think about it hard, if we rely solely on Christ in our suffering, and on no one else but those who will use the love of Christ to help us, then we can encounter anything.
When I think about my life, sometimes i "suffer", and by suffering, I mean, I get a bad teacher, or have bad luck on something, I dont feel good once in a blue moon. But if you compare to the suffering of the Haitians, my suffering looks like a stubbed toe compared to the loss of a limb.
Often, suffering is caused by a mistake, or some wrongdoing. Christ made no mistakes. Christ did no wrong. Christ came, lived a perfect life, and then suffered lashes from a whip, beatings with clubs and sharpened objects, carried a wooden cross twice his size and weight up a mountain while bleeding, had a "crown" of thorns shoved onto his head, had nails driven into his hands and feet, and then was stabbed by a pike. I think thats true suffering. He took our sins, paid the price, and died for us. He paid our ransom, all so we dont have to suffer. Christ died for us, so we can live for him.

2nd Corinthians 4:16-18
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.