Do others have a theology of suffering?

This is an area I'm still trying to understand and become clear about.

Some have an understanding that if you believe 100% in the power of Jesus to heal and are walking with Him then nothing will touch you except for your own good. Others seem to think that God doesn't heal any more.

The thing that makes all this tricky is that we know that God heals people, having seen at various times healings and people becoming well. Yet at the same time, I've prayed, fasted, laid hands on for healing - and not seen it.

What about those who suffer slings and arrows at the hands of others? Is it for their good (and the good of the persecutors)?

I can find plenty of scriptures to back up a variety of different perspectives, but what I want is an understanding that integrates all of it, rather than just pushes me to one or other pole. A different theology is, I think, incomplete and will always say the wrong things about who Jesus is.

Theology is always coloured by our experiences and understandings. A theology of suffering 200 or 2000 years ago would not look like a theology of suffering now. So I want to understand suffering as it relates to 20th (and to an extent, 21st) century man. How does one reconcile suffering as a Christian in a culture that places personal comfort before all else, and demands relief from modern medicine. Also how can my understanding of suffering be 'true' in cultures that do not know comfort and care for normal people?

One of the things I constantly pray is that I might say what is right about God. Not that the things I say may be entertaining or funny or stirring, but that I can describe God as He truly is, albeit in naturally limited fashion. It seems this is another area that needs exploration.