05/14/2019
Do you suffer in your life simply because you deserve to? Is every bad thing that befalls you the result of some sin, or wrongdoing in your life? Certainly we have enough sin and disobedience in our lives to make an argument for this, but there are many times when we face hardship in the midst of our goodness, righteousness, and obedience. How should we view this seemingly unjust sorrow? Do we question God?
“For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”
1 Peter 2:19-21 ESV
This is an interesting passage of scripture, not only for its content, but because of who said it. This is Peter who denied Jesus three times in order to avoid pain and suffering, and yet here he is telling us that we are called to suffer unjustly. Something amazing has happened to him between the time he denied Christ and now... Between the time he would lie to avoid the wrath of the crowd, and now when he would assume the suffering of Jesus. I propose to you that it was the spiritual transformation of the resurrection that fell on Him at Pentecost.
“For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”
1 Peter 3:17-18 ESV
When we suffer as the result of our sin or wrongdoing we do so because we deserve it, and we endure it as a cleansing, but when we endure suffering for no fault of our own we do so because God deserves it... we are taught to praise Him in the midst of the storm because that praise is a far greater offering than what we give in times of joy. It is easy to lift up our hands to the Lord when all is well, or we are seeking Him in contrition, but when our bodies are scourged in the midst of our righteousness then the lifting of our hands suddenly becomes much more difficult... we become Christlike by doing so, and our offering is boiled down to a strong nectar, a syrup of praise that imitates the sacrifice made for us by Jesus, the innocent lamb of God.
“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.”
James 1:2-4 ESV
We look to Job as an example of someone who was righteous, and yet made to suffer, but similar examples can be found all around us today, and in our own lives as well. I was at a peak of faith, and standing on a mountaintop with the Lord. My prayers had been answered and my child had been healed of addiction, I had been physically touched my hands during prayer, I had just been asked to join two elders in a three man intercessory prayer team and anointed... my spiritual life was gushing forth like a rushing river. Then in the midst of the most righteous time in my life I was told I had cancer. It frightened me, and I initially asked God “why me? What have I done to deserve this?”, yet I continued to praise Him, even in the midst of His silence. What happened as a result of my faithfulness became the revelation of His will as the faiths of those around me was brought to fever pitch, and increased. Prayers were lifted up, God answered, my cancer was cured, and people’s faiths were enhanced as a result. In the midst of my suffering His hand had remained on me. This is not the only time in my life that I have faced suffering that has brought my faith to greater heights... it happens all the time. I thank Him for each of those times of intense attention and instruction.
We begin like Peter... we learn the elementary lessons at the feet of Jesus, but then we face the suffering... our faith is challenged, and perhaps we deny Him... not once, but over and over again. Have you been through such trial? Were you young in Christ and had occasion to deny Him? Then through this experience and the heartbreak of having failed Him, we find a new strength of faith... it comes and we thank Him for it. Then we join in His suffering again, and again, and again, as we learn such things as endurance, perseverance, steadfastness, and many other characteristics of God. We are refined in the furnace of righteous suffering... not so much by punishment, but by enduring until we firmly grasp God’s lesson of hope.
A famous Scottish self-help author of the late 1800s realized the intense nature of one’s failures (which are forms of suffering) when he made this statement...
“We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do, and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.” - Dr. Samuel Smiles
Now, there is no indication of any spirituality in this man’s fame or writing, but scripture tells us that although we might learn the lesson of what not to do by our failures, it isn’t until we learn the lesson of endurance, and how to apply it in the face of those failures (or sufferings)... that we truly gain in wisdom (or faith). If we suffer in our lives and don’t learn God’s lesson of endurance or perseverance in our faith, it will either stagnate, or be lost altogether, but with endurance comes hope...
“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.”
Romans 5:3-5 ESV
So let’s go back to Peter... in his exuberance he claimed that he would die for Jesus, then he failed and denied Him out of fear, he became distraught at his disgraceful failure, and the risen Jesus had to send for him. At this point he learned from his failure, and finally... the Holy Spirit was given him, and he was transformed.
Where are you today? Are you at the point of childish exuberance? Maybe you are denying Christ in the midst of your fear and suffering? Are you embarrassed and distraught at your failure of faith? Are you waiting for Jesus to call you to Him, and forgive you? Are you waiting in prayer for the Holy Spirit, or are you transformed? I don’t care who we are... a new Christian, a saint, or a Pope... we go through this sequence of suffering over and over again in the course of our spiritual lives. Our claims of righteousness change, our suffering changes, our disappointment changes, and our contrition is different, but if we persevere in our faith then in each instance we are transformed... our faith increases, and our hope swells.
Today you might be suffering despite your righteousness, and you might feel as though God has abandoned you to it, but He has not. Praise Him in the midst of whatever you are suffering, and know that there is purpose in it, and in the end there will be goodness, hope, and transformation... sometimes for you, but quite often for others. Can you endure, and claim the reward of faith and hope?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for all of the good and joyful times in my life, and I thank you for the abundance of your blessings, but Holy Father, I thank you also for the times I suffer, and for knowing that I can reach out to you from within my pain. Help me Father by increasing my faith and endurance; help me in my unbelief as well. Teach me those lessons that are best taught in suffering and hardship, but I pray that you intersperse them with those glorious times atop the mountain when you place your hand upon my head and tell me that you are proud of how far I have come. The hands of my soul reach out for you in joyous praise, but they also find occasion to grasp for you in longing and desperation. Hear the utterances of my soul Lord, and let your Holy Spirit give me tutelage in every lesson of faith you teach. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who by my suffering teaches me the hope and obedience of Christ, and instills in me your character. I praise you Father in the good and easy times, and I praise you from within the storms. Great are you now and forevermore, for your mercy and grace know no end. You stand with me in every storm, and encourage me in the face of death. Truly your Son Jesus has conquered sin, and defeated death... who then should I fear, and what can come against me? Perfect me Father so that the storms might pass, every tear be dried, and I can join you at your table in eternal joy.
Rich Forbes