Carson on Suffering

Over the last few years I've read and studied a fair amount on the subject of suffering. One of the best books out there is Carson's, How Long, O Lord? It is steeped with thoughtful, straight forward, Biblical advice and encouragement. I highly recommend it. One issue I see that comes to the forefront repeatedly is that of "what I deserve." Perhaps it's our age of medical advancement and/or prosperity but many of us seem to think we shouldn't suffer. We shouldn't be sick and if we get sick we need healing immediately. If we suffer some kind of emotional or financial loss loss we need to be able to recover without feeling the pain. "I deserve to be happy and pain free." Carson explains that that just isn't the case,

In fact we believe that sin properly deserves the wrath of God, then when we experience the sufferings of this world, all of them the consequences of human rebellion, we will be less quick to blame God and a lot quicker to recognize that we have no fundamental right to expect a life of unbroken ease and comfort. From the biblical perspective, it is because of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed (pg. 44).