Faithfulness

I was reading that last bit of The Sacred Romance and it got me thinking. It got me thinking about suffering and why we do. I thought about Job and all he endured. I thought about my life and the things I've endured. I thought about my friends and the world around me and all the horrible things that go on. I asked myself the timeless question, "Why would God let us suffer? Why would He willingly allow Satan room on the leash he's on so he can torment us?" Normally I feel unsettled by this question and resolve to just give myself the traditional Christian answers or I just stop thinking about the topic all together. It's easier that way.
However, today I just thought about it a while. Here's what I sort of concluded:

Our ultimate purpose in life is to glorify God and to worship Him. We must be faithful to Him and worship Him. I know God does not cause suffering because He is a just and good God, but I also know He does allow it to happen. So what if we are allowed to suffer to see how faithful we are willing to remain? If our ultimate purpose is to worship Him above all else, what if He wants to see how true our worship really is? In Job, the man lost all of his children, all of his servants, all of his land, livestock, even his health. And when push came to shove, his wife told him to "go ahead and curse God and die". His friends told him it was his secret sins that must be the cause of all this, etc. In the end, Job remains faithful, after much struggle with God over why he had to suffer. God gives him everything he lost but doubled. None of the new things could ever replace the hurt of losing the old, but he learned about true worship and faithfulness. His suffering was so great, but so was his faith. We are never told exactly why God allowed all of this pain and suffering but maybe God is more concerned with the character we develop during strife and our faithfulness and true worship than He is with our happiness. Maybe those things are more important. I dunno. Just thinking here.

If you're suffering and know Christ, be faithful. He cares about what happens to you and your heart. Run to Him in your sufferings and worship Him with all you have left. As Christ suffered, so must we too.