Why Suffering?
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church” (Col 1:24a)
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (1 Peter 5:5b-9)
Will the true Christ-follower suffer here on earth? The Lord Yeshua (Jesus) answers this question clearly and succinctly…
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world. (John 16:33)
As a true child of God, you’re suffering could possibly have a direct relationship to how much of a threat you are to the enemy, the devil, based on 1 Peter 5:8-9. But take heart! You’re earthly suffering will result in fabulous eternal rewards, again only if you are a true Christ-follower and suffer for God’s sake. Here’s why, based on Scripture…
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your Word…It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes…O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine…I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your Word…Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psa 119:67,71,97-98,101,105)
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Rom 5:3-5)
And we know that God causes all things [amplified: which includes suffering] to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. (Rom 8:28-29)
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2 Cor 4:17)
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (Jas 1:2-4)
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. (1 Peter 4:12-16)
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:10-12)
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. (2 Cor 1:3-4)
Just to note: not every trial results in suffering…but many do! Also, this kind of divine wisdom in regard to suffering goes against the false health, wealth, and prosperity teachers…huh??? But I digress.
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.’” (Matt 16:24-25)
I realize this does not tickle the ears!
Lastly, one more important point about suffering…
John 9
1 As He [Jesus] passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”
Verse 3 is vitally important here…
3 Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
What happened next in John chapter 9?
5 While I [Jesus] am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” 6 When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.
Look what God could do through a person who rightly suffers and responds well, and as evidenced in this story…
1) In this case, the Lord brought glory to Himself by fulfilling an OT prophecy about what Messiah would do when He came to earth, performing signs (Isa 29:18, 32:3, 35:5, 42:7,16, etc.)
2) This blind man was used to help authenticate Yeshua as Messiah, God’s prophetic message and the Word of the Lord (see the rest of John chap. 9 for all the details)!
3) This is a great example of successful spiritual warfare; suffering ultimately resulting in God being honored and glorified.
So then…why suffering?
- So we will learn God’s Word and apply it in our lives
- Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope; and hope does not disappoint
- To mold us to the Lord Yeshua’s (Jesus’) image
- Achieves eternal glory
- Produces steadfastness, which works to make us perfect and complete, lacking in nothing
- To rejoice, as we share in Christ’s sufferings, and that we will be glad when His glory is revealed
- God Himself will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us after suffering
- So we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, that with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God when we go through affliction
- To glorify God (our justification, sanctification, and ultimately our glorification brings honor and glory to the Lord…praise Him!)
Understanding suffering works toward the Christ-follower’s eternal good is not easy; that it ultimately glorifies the Lord, which is our ultimate goal (1 Cor 10:31; Col 3:17). It truly requires transformed thinking to accept and embrace this concept. Nonetheless, it is true and vitally important to understand, so we live rightly and look forward to the indescribable and glorious future that is to come. I am so excited and looking forward to it…are you?
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. (Rom 12:1-3)
P.S. For a real-life illustration in regard to the point of this post, please read the following story in the Jerusalem Post: Mideast Christian woman on ISIS: God’s plan is ‘working perfectly’. Quoting from the article below,
“‘Don’t pray for the persecution to be stopped,’ she said, according to the Christian Post website. ‘But pray for the Christians there, for their boldness, their encouragement, for their faith and that they can all be witnesses for God’s work and for God’….Also, the Middle Eastern Christian woman told the Alabaman churchgoers that the persecution of their fellow members of the faith only caused them to grow stronger, as she took out her Arabic Bible and read out the verse in Exodus 1:12: ‘But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad.’”