Take up your cross

A friend asked me recently "Why would such a loving God allow us to suffer (and some seemingly more than others!)?"  I also just recently had a dream of being nailed to the cross - I could almost feel the pain, but I'm sure not even close to what Jesus endured.  I feel that we all have our crosses in life and that we all suffer in our individual ways.  Some physically, some mentally, some spiritually.  It is up to us to get through the "suffering".  God is there for us through it.  It is indeed most times a mystery as to why we suffer in the ways we do.  Sometimes I feel it is through our suffering that we can grow closer to God and even bring others closer to Him.