Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who 

comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the 

comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in 

abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

-2 Cor. 1:3-5

That the aches and groans rising from my soul now can one day become the balm for another's soul is a source of great joy for me. It is this that causes me to eye the thorn so stubbornly embedded under layers of skin with a greater understanding when my Maker refuses to remove it, the red haloed thing that it is. It teaches me that my wisdom has a limit, that my perception's strength is finitely numbered. The glory of God may flash forth with greater brilliance when I run with a limp, my crooked steps may take on more of a dance. 

How can I know which would be better, with or without?
I have come to see that my joy may run deeper in the waters I would never ask to swim in.