THE VALUE OF SUFFERING
The descent of the Living Word to dwell among us, “full of grace and
truth” (John 1:14), shows us a different way to approach both the joys and the
inevitable sufferings of this life – a way rooted in pain, but also in the
goodness of God’s very presence in the midst of all life’s circumstances.
Christ’s
suffering brought redemption and deliverance. His way of dealing with suffering
is already a victory. This is because Christ’s suffering is so different from
our ordinary approach. We have come, somehow, to believe that suffering in and
of itself is good for us, even redemptive in a kind of cosmic “no pain - no gain” spirituality. This
is often tied in with a deep underlying fear that we deserve to suffer.
The
whole biblical account of Christ is meant to deliver us from this state of
mind. Deliverance does not come when pain is over, but can arise in
the ordeal of it. Pain in itself is not good; only when our reaction to it is
proper does it become a means of good. Note Paul’s reasoning: “Therefore, since
we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because
of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has
brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we
confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice
too, when we run into problems and trials (in our sufferings - NIV) for we know that they are good for us, they
help us learn to endure. Endurance
develops strength of character is us, and character strengthens our confident
expectation of salvation. And this expectation will not disappoint us. For
we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to
fill our hearts with love” (Rom. 5:1-5 NLT).
Other
translations combine the latter part of verse 2 with the first part of verse 3:
“Rejoice
in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulation”
(KJV, NKJV).
“We
rejoice, then in the hope we have of sharing God’s glory! And we
also rejoice in our troubles”
(GNB).
“We
can boast about looking forward to God’s glory. But that is not all we can
boast about; we can boast about our
sufferings” (JB). “This doesn’t
mean, of course, that we have only a hope of future joys; we can be full of joy
here and now even in our trials and troubles” (Phillips Trans.).
Conclusion:
“Think what it means. If we are His
children, then we are God’s heirs, and all that Christ inherits will belong to
all of us as well! Yes, if we share in His sufferings, we shall certainly share
in His glory. In my opinion whatever we may go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has in
store for us” (Phillips Trans.).
A. Jarmola
Alone with Him
When
God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment,
sickness, by thwarted desires, or a broken friendship, and we are totally
speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach
us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was His disciples, not the
crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions,
and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until
after the received the Holy Spirit. (See
John 14:26.)
As
you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals
with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be
absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle
until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of
stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it
can only be done when Jesus gets us alone.
Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas,
friendships, and care for our bodies? Jesus
cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get
alone with Him.
Taken from My Utmost for His Highest
by Oswald Chambers. copyright 1935 by Dodd Mead &