Connecting With Suffering

"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5:2-5)

In the Western church, by God’s grace, we have avoided much of the persecution that the rest of the world has encountered.  However, in the last century alone, there were more martyrs for the faith than in all the centuries combined.  Every day over 400 Christians die for the faith.  In fact, in our Western church, we should not be surprised if persecution for our faith becomes more and more prevalent.  Jesus promised that as we approached His second coming, persecution would increase. (Matthew 24:9)

Suffering in this world, great or small and in one form or another, is inevitable.  It is not something like jury duty that you have to hope will not happen to you.  You will not avoid it simply by “play your cards right” or just “walking in the Spirit.”  Nor is it some detour to get through quickly so you can get back to the real work of ministry.

Suffering in the Christian life is essential.  It is a tool for transforming us into the kind of people God designed us to be.

Since God is the source of all goodness, His glory is the source of all joy.  What God does for His own sake benefits us.  Therefore whatever glorifies Him is good for us.  And that includes the suffering He allows or brings (biblically, either or both terms can apply) into our lives.

God refines us in our suffering and graciously explains why, “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.” (Isaiah 48:10-11b)  And for emphasis, God repeats this reason.

If you don’t understand that the universe is about God and His glory, and that whatever exalts God’s glory also works for your ultimate good, then you will misunderstand this passage and countless others.  Some consider God arrogant or cruel to test us for His sake.  But the testing He does for His sake accumulates to our eternal benefit.

In her book, “When God Weeps” Joni Eareckson Tada writes, “Before my paralysis, my hands reached for a lot of wrong things, and my feet took me into some bad places.  After my paralysis, tempting choices were scaled down considerably.  My particular affliction is divinely hand-tailored expressly for me.  Nobody has to suffer ‘transverse spinal lesion at the fourth-fifth cervical’ exactly as I did to be conformed to his image.”

God uses suffering to eliminate sin from our lives, strengthen our commitment to Him, force us to depend on His grace, produce discernment, discipline our minds, cause us to know Christ better, lead us to repentance of sin, increase thankfulness, enlarge our faith, and build our character.  Once He accomplishes these great things, then we can see that our suffering is worth it.

We open ourselves to God’s transforming work when we acknowledge our challenges and view them through the lens of His power and goodness.  Let suffering lead you to the place where all you have is Him. And you will discover that He is more than enough.

“...In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b)

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