Be Flour for the Lord: How God Uses Your Suffering for Something Beautiful

Why do we suffer hard things? The Bible has many answers, especially in the book of Romans. Suffering conforms us to look like Jesus (Romans 8:29); affliction leads to endurance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3–4); and we can suffer well knowing that we will one day be glorified with Christ (Romans 8:17). But one of the most striking answers to my question comes by metaphor: We suffer so that we can be ground into flour. Let me explain. J. I. Packer said that suffering is simply “getting what you do not want while wanting what you do not get.”1 Suffering in all its forms—physical, spiritual, and relational—doesn’t just hurt us; it works on us. You might even say it breaks us down into pieces that God can reassemble to use for His own purposes. There’s a sense of being “struck down” (2 Corinthians 4:9) or “pounded” by the hard things we meet each day—the death of a family member, an ongoing battle with anxiety, a season of crippling self-doubt, lingering sickness. To be clear, God is not the author of these tragedies, nor does He delight in our suffering. But we can trust what His hand allows, for He is a master at redeeming even the most hopeless of circumstances. Packer put it this way: “Through the pounding we experience we are, so to speak, broken up so that each bit of what we are may become food for some hungry soul: food, that is, in the sense of emphatic insight and supportive wisdom.”2 The image resembles wheat ground into flour. In fact, Packer sometimes uses the language of being “ground for the mill.” It’s a picture of roughness leading to redemption. The crushing of the wheat leads to the baking of the bread. Destruction is the start of rebuilding. Think of Jesus’s words in John 12:24 when He says, “Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.” In Jesus’s case, the fruit became the millions of followers who would find life in His name. For you and me, the fruit might be what Packer called “emphatic insights and supportive wisdom.” What Is Your Suffering Teaching You? Think of your suffering at this moment—whatever you’re getting that you do not want or wanting that you do not get. While your circumstances may not feel meaningful for you right now—and it may be that you never have an answer for them on this side of heaven—this isn't a failure of your faith but is an opportunity to remember who your faith rests in. We can trust His hand in every moment of our life. God is not inflicting suffering upon you, but He will not let it go to waste. By that very thing that brings you pain, the Spirit is using the crushing weight of a broken world to shape you like kernels under a heavy stone. It’s uncomfortable. It hurts. It’s exhausting. But don’t ever forget the purpose of the grinding. If you will let Him, God can use that grinding to teach you insights—glimpses into the way things truly are before the face of God. And He can teach you wisdom—the paths worth walking when people hit a crossroads. Insights and wisdom are the fruit of flour, not the secrets of uncrushed kernels. As we are broken, we are beautified. Why? Your Suffering Isn't Just for You The gifts we receive are meant to be given. In Packer’s words, we are all meant to be “food for some hungry soul.” Someone in your life—either at the center or on the perimeter—is starving for something in your pocket. Through your suffering, God is giving you the means to feed someone else. As I have dealt with anxiety for over twenty years—writing books and articles and speaking to small groups—I can’t number the strangers who have approached me and said something like, “I needed that. Thank you for sharing what God’s been teaching you.” People were hungry for food God had dropped in my pockets. And it was a joy to give it to them, even if it wasn’t a joy to be crushed by the suffering that led to it. But this is how God makes flour. He’s always bringing us to the mill for grinding so that others might taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). I know that doesn’t make suffering feel different. It still hurts. But knowing what God is up to is great encouragement and can help ready us to feed those we didn’t know were starving. Whatever hard things you’re facing today, be flour for the Lord. In the crushing, ask God’s Spirit to show you the insights and wisdom He is preparing in your own heart for people around you. And when the time comes that you have opportunity to share those insights, I guarantee that you’ll be grateful to have been changed from a kernel to a powder. This is how God works with seeds. If you liked this article, check out the related resources linked below! Notes: 1. J. I. Packer, Rediscovering Holiness: Know the Fullness of Life with God (Regal, 2009), 284. 2. Packer, Rediscovering Holiness, 300–301. Author Bio Pierce Taylor Hibbs is Senior Writer and Communication Specialist at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Struck Down but Not Destroyed, The Book of Giving, One with God, and Our Hope Is in Help. He and his wife, Christina, live in Pennsylvania with their three kids, Isaac, Nora, and Heidi. Learn more about his work at piercetaylorhibbs.com. Related Resources: Job Bible Study Faith Questions - Suffering A Joy That Endures Bible Study How God Uses Trials to Grow Our Faith Loading price… Loading price… Loading price… Add to Cart Add to Cart Add to Cart View Blog