"Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding."
In our modern society, we are constantly bombarded with messages everywhere telling us that we should not suffer, but instead, we should live lives of prosperity. These messages come in the form of media, other people, and even our own churches and they tell us that if we are suffering, then it is either our own fault or we "just do not have enough faith". The people who feed us this message want us to believe that if we just had enough faith then all will be well. However, the Gospel tells us a different story as our Lord and Savior tells us "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). While the world sees suffering as something bad that should be avoided, the word of God tells us that there are certain benefits to our suffering. I know that this may sound weird to some of my readers, but I firmly believe that "all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). In this blog, I shall discuss some of these benefits that come from suffering based on God's word. My prayer and hope for this blog are that as you read this, you will be encouraged as you go through any trial that the Lord has you in currently. However, I would like to say that if you are suffering due to living in sin, then the answer is to repent. As C.S. Lewis says, "Pain is God's megaphone to a deaf world" so God could be using this trial in your life in order to draw you to repentance and you should not ignore the call. If you are already a Christian and you are suffering then you are blessed as 1 Peter 3:14 tells us. As I can see from Scripture, there are four benefits that come from suffering. These benefits are the following:
1) Suffering Keeps Us Humble
2) Suffering Glorifies God
3) We Suffer So We Can Comfort Others
4) Suffering Matures Us
I will now elaborate on each of these points, but I would like to say that I am not in any way saying that suffering is a good thing. Suffering in itself is evil and it is a result of the Fall of Adam, but God is sovereign over even the evil of suffering. I want you to keep that in mind as you read this blog.
Suffering Keeps Us Humble
________________________
In 2 Corinthians 12:7, we read from the Apostle Paul the following,
"So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited"
We do not know what Paul's thorn in the flesh is, but we do know that it caused Paul great distress because he pleaded with the Lord to remove it three times. Instead of removing his thorn, our Lord responded with "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". Paul understood that his suffering, in whatever form it was in, was to keep him humble. We all need to remember this because our natural tendency is to be puffed up with pride and arrogance. Sometimes the Lord will cause us to go through some horrific trial to keep us humble and dependent upon Him because "in him, we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:20).
Suffering Glorifies God
_____________________
When we look at 1 Peter 4:16 we read,
"Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name"
Whenever those of us who are called by the name of Christ suffer for His name, God is honored. This is important because as Christians we are hated by the world since we are God's possession. This means that we do not look or behave in the same way the world does and the world cannot stand us for it. If you notice that you have lost friends or that people mistreat you for being a Christian, you need to understand that the world hated Christ first. Since the world hates Christ, the world will hate His followers too. But, we need to remember the Lord's words in Matthew 5:11-12,
"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
We Suffer So That We Can Comfort Others
______________________________________
The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4,
"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 may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God"
I believe one of the primary reasons we suffer is so we can identify with those who suffer. We live in a fallen world and as a result, people suffer in this world. People need to know that there is hope in Jesus Christ, but they will most likely listen to someone who can identify with them over someone who cannot identify with them. A rape victim will most likely not listen to someone who has never been raped, but if someone can come alongside the victim and tell them how Christ can help them overcome based on personal experience then the victim will more than likely listen and have hope. As Christians, we are called to be the body of Christ who reaches out to this dark and dying, and hurting world with the hope of the Lord and Savior.
Suffering Matures Us
___________________
In Romans 5:3-5, the Apostle Paul tells us,
"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us"
God uses our suffering to really mold and shape us into the people He wants us to be. I once heard an analogy of the way gold is refined in a furnace by being placed directly in the center of the flame. In the same way, God will often place us in the harshest of circumstances and trials to refine our faith and shape our character. It may not seem very pleasant at the time, but no discipline is ever pleasant. When we were children, our parents would discipline us and while at the time we did not like it, now we are thankful for their discipline because we know they did it out of love and concern for us. As our Heavenly Father, the Lord disciplines us in the same way, and we should be thankful for His discipline too because we know that He cares for us. Also, the Lord promises to sustain us through our trials and tribulations because He will never leave us. So, we can trust in His sovereignty.
In our modern society, we are constantly bombarded with messages everywhere telling us that we should not suffer, but instead, we should live lives of prosperity. These messages come in the form of media, other people, and even our own churches and they tell us that if we are suffering, then it is either our own fault or we "just do not have enough faith". The people who feed us this message want us to believe that if we just had enough faith then all will be well. However, the Gospel tells us a different story as our Lord and Savior tells us "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). While the world sees suffering as something bad that should be avoided, the word of God tells us that there are certain benefits to our suffering. I know that this may sound weird to some of my readers, but I firmly believe that "all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). In this blog, I shall discuss some of these benefits that come from suffering based on God's word. My prayer and hope for this blog are that as you read this, you will be encouraged as you go through any trial that the Lord has you in currently. However, I would like to say that if you are suffering due to living in sin, then the answer is to repent. As C.S. Lewis says, "Pain is God's megaphone to a deaf world" so God could be using this trial in your life in order to draw you to repentance and you should not ignore the call. If you are already a Christian and you are suffering then you are blessed as 1 Peter 3:14 tells us. As I can see from Scripture, there are four benefits that come from suffering. These benefits are the following:
1) Suffering Keeps Us Humble
2) Suffering Glorifies God
3) We Suffer So We Can Comfort Others
4) Suffering Matures Us
I will now elaborate on each of these points, but I would like to say that I am not in any way saying that suffering is a good thing. Suffering in itself is evil and it is a result of the Fall of Adam, but God is sovereign over even the evil of suffering. I want you to keep that in mind as you read this blog.
Suffering Keeps Us Humble
________________________
In 2 Corinthians 12:7, we read from the Apostle Paul the following,
"So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited"
We do not know what Paul's thorn in the flesh is, but we do know that it caused Paul great distress because he pleaded with the Lord to remove it three times. Instead of removing his thorn, our Lord responded with "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". Paul understood that his suffering, in whatever form it was in, was to keep him humble. We all need to remember this because our natural tendency is to be puffed up with pride and arrogance. Sometimes the Lord will cause us to go through some horrific trial to keep us humble and dependent upon Him because "in him, we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:20).
Suffering Glorifies God
_____________________
When we look at 1 Peter 4:16 we read,
"Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name"
Whenever those of us who are called by the name of Christ suffer for His name, God is honored. This is important because as Christians we are hated by the world since we are God's possession. This means that we do not look or behave in the same way the world does and the world cannot stand us for it. If you notice that you have lost friends or that people mistreat you for being a Christian, you need to understand that the world hated Christ first. Since the world hates Christ, the world will hate His followers too. But, we need to remember the Lord's words in Matthew 5:11-12,
"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
We Suffer So That We Can Comfort Others
______________________________________
The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4,
"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 may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God"
I believe one of the primary reasons we suffer is so we can identify with those who suffer. We live in a fallen world and as a result, people suffer in this world. People need to know that there is hope in Jesus Christ, but they will most likely listen to someone who can identify with them over someone who cannot identify with them. A rape victim will most likely not listen to someone who has never been raped, but if someone can come alongside the victim and tell them how Christ can help them overcome based on personal experience then the victim will more than likely listen and have hope. As Christians, we are called to be the body of Christ who reaches out to this dark and dying, and hurting world with the hope of the Lord and Savior.
Suffering Matures Us
___________________
In Romans 5:3-5, the Apostle Paul tells us,
"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us"
God uses our suffering to really mold and shape us into the people He wants us to be. I once heard an analogy of the way gold is refined in a furnace by being placed directly in the center of the flame. In the same way, God will often place us in the harshest of circumstances and trials to refine our faith and shape our character. It may not seem very pleasant at the time, but no discipline is ever pleasant. When we were children, our parents would discipline us and while at the time we did not like it, now we are thankful for their discipline because we know they did it out of love and concern for us. As our Heavenly Father, the Lord disciplines us in the same way, and we should be thankful for His discipline too because we know that He cares for us. Also, the Lord promises to sustain us through our trials and tribulations because He will never leave us. So, we can trust in His sovereignty.
It may seem like since I am writing about this that I have some rock-solid faith in God and that nothing will ever shake me up. If you have ever thought that about me, you would be wrong. Actually, I recently had an experience last year that almost made me deny the faith. When I was in the hospital for three months due to a perforated colon, my old anger against God came rising up again. I thought to myself that He must really hate me and I was beginning to hate him again too. I was even beginning to think blasphemous thoughts again and I refused to pray or acknowledge Him. However, through it all the Lord was patient with me as He kept bringing to my mind Romans 8:28. All of a sudden, my spirits began to lift as I started to trust in Him again. Slowly I started to realize that even though I may never understand why I had to go through this experience God is still good and He still deserves my praise. I also realized that somehow this experience will work out for my good and so far it has because I am no longer overly medicated as I once was and my relationship with my wife is much closer too. Also, that experience birthed the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry. God really does work all things for the good of those who love Him. Soli Deo Gloria!
I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog and I hope that you have found this to be a blessing to you and glorifying to God. May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry
Check out the other Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog and I hope that you have found this to be a blessing to you and glorifying to God. May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry
Check out the other Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
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