It is also true that rest awaits. I believe C.S. Lewis said somewhere that man has the capacity to endure suffering only as long as he has to – that once the suffering has ended, he will have the experience that he could not have possibly endured one minute more. This is the other thing that makes our suffering bearable: we know there is respite when it is finished.  This day will end at some point and you will be able to sleep. This week will end in a weekend. This season of life will eventually pass. Some day, the suffering will abate. At the end of it all, there will be rest with a certain finality.

This is our hope – that this present darkness will someday end and we will be able to lay down all our weapons and rest, suffer no more, lie down in peace and security. And this is the way our lives are structured. Even God took a day off and suggested we do the same regularly. This is one of the things that helps us endure suffering: realizing that some day it will cease. “‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain.”