So, if ever suffering is brought upon us, we must seek to utilize this as a catalyst for growth in Torah and Avodas Hashem. For in essence, suffering, when accepted and interpreted in a Torah-way, is the surest way of acquiring greatness.
Especially now in the days of Sefiras Haomer, which are a preparation for kabbolas haTorah, we should attempt to 'suffer' for the sake of Torah. We should seek to toil more, and 'give up' more, for the sake of truly acquiring Torah. As Rabbi Shimon said לֹא מָצָאתִי כִּי אִם without the 'gift of suffering' we cannot find ourselves in the envious position of having reached truly lofty levels of Torah.
Furthermore, given the utter depravity of the world at large today, the only way to protect ourselves from losing sight of our holiness is through building a 'maarah' to shield us from the outer world. We set up safeguards that protect and separate us from the dangers of technology and the lack of morality in the greater world. And when the safeguards sometimes cause us difficulty or inconvenience, when we must abstain from certain activities or go through discomfort as a result of the 'cave' we have entered, we must remind ourselves of the rewards of the צַעַר הַמְּעָרָה.
May the day in which we will finally emerge from the maarah soon be upon us, and then we will bask in the brilliant light of the eternal reward that we accrued over the long golus of suffering which we valiantly endured. אָמֵן כֵּן יְהִי רָצוֹן.
תּוֹרָתוֹ מָגֵן לָנוּ הִיא מְאִירַת עֵינֵינוּ
גוט שבת