Christians Are To Face Suffering

Suffering is not a virtue in Western Christianity. Perhaps it is even seen as a punishment.

What a far cry from Apostle Paul’s, “I consider it a privilege to suffer for Christ”.  Jesus went further and promised it to his followers. “You will be persecuted, you will have trouble in this world”.

The people I know who have suffered are deep people. Some have been humbled by disappointments, such as remaining un-married, not being able to get pregnant, getting a divorce and some by serious illness or by the death of family members in freak accidents or by being murdered while serving the poorest of the poor.

In a weird way, the more we suffer, the more we need God and the deeper our relationship with Him becomes. Also, our trust for God deepens and our willingness to follow him increases. When suffering comes, it is not our calling as Christians to run from it, but to embrace it. In facing suffering we also have to choose to allow God to shape us through it, or to harden our hearts and let bitterness take root.

Libby Little wrote this, only a few days before she heard of her own husband being brutally murdered. They had served the poor for over two decades in one of the world’s most war-torn nations.

For most Westerners, the opportunity to embrace suffering in service has become rare. Stringent security and evacuation protocols, government advisories, threats of litigation, and pressures from relatives and supporters make it difficult for mission people working in conflict zones to stay near to those who suffer.”To stay, or not to stay?” is a relevant question for today’s mission personnel working in dangerous places. … What might have been a God-appointed time to embrace suffering and those who suffer may be prematurely aborted.
Full article here.

Pain – God’s Opportunity

“If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?”

If you are a Christian, have you noticed how little you need God when all is going well? No need to linger in the presence of God, just a quick “thanks” and off you go to do your thing.

When you’re in the midst of a struggle, question, suffering or pain you linger with God. There is so much anxiety and no one else to turn to.

We have all been a part of prayer campaigns. A child has cancer, a brother’s life is off the rails, an accident happened, a marriage is in crisis. You pray and often things get better. Healing happens. Life gets sorted out. A couple is reconciled.

If there was no pain and suffering in this world, we wouldn’t be pushed towards God. We wouldn’t see God at work. In suffering God can showcase his Majesty and his Goodness. It is a blessing in disguise. It hurts, but the union with God in such moments is at its sweetest.

To Get Rid of Suffering We Have to Get Rid of People

If God is good, why does he allow so much suffering? This rhetorical question is a way of denying God’s existence for many.

Consider this thought.

The earth is suffering under the curse of sin, and if God being good means that he needs to remove sin from this world, then he would have to get rid of sinners. And he is too merciful to do that. (Joni Eareckson Tada)

When we think of suffering we think of us as victims and other, truly evil people as the perpetrators. But on the nanolevel all of us cause suffering. “Take the log out of your own eye before trying to remove a stick from your neighbor’s,” said Jesus. It is an uncomfortable realization that even I contribute to the general feeling of the human kind: “if God is so good, how come there’s so much evil?”

It is much easier to shift the blame on God while we walk free. Truly honest people are willing to take a look into their own hearts and deal with the yucky stuff.