It popped up as one of those sponsored posts from a well-known writer. We had like “friends”, and she had a big following…
And I had forgotten…
Each of us are broken, just in different measures.
She had wrestled with suffering too, like most do.
But then, I read the conclusion of this ex-missionary,”God doesn’t want us to suffer”.
She quotes a well-known pastor, “Jesus suffered for us, so that we don’t have to.”
And it sounded pleasing. I mean, who doesn’t want to follow a gospel that promises no difficulties?
Yet, far too many turn from Christianity because of this false teaching, “If God loves me, I will never suffer”…
At least, that’s what happened to me as a teenager, when dressed up ties implied life should be perfect if we were “real” Christians.
And I could never “get” a God who only loved the flawless, and ran from the needing.
I had seen as a child…
- The way the sun peaks over the horizon on darkest mornings, amidst the grayest clouds, on rain drenches evenings…
- How the stars shined brightest when the night was darkest…
- How a lighthouse knew how to scatter it’s beams across stormy seas…
- How when I was most hurting, He seemed most near to me.
Suffering isn’t always God punishing, but more often a result of sin entering the world, a tool He uses to draw us closer to Him and His promises…
It was then I committed, “I am willing to go where ever you lead me, even if it includes suffering.”
After all, fighting against difficulty is like playing God. It’s like demanding the storm to stop and then blaming God when it doesn’t.
What does God say?
I open my Bible the other morning, doing devotions with my ten-year-old.
I am teaching her this year that Jesus isn’t just found in some devotional or sermon by other people…
True communion is seeking Him in the quiet, listening with more than your ears, but your heart. Being open to what He teaches. Then living that out, by grace.
“Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead.” (Acts 17:3) I scratch in my notes as I read alongside her.
A day later, I open my Bible again. The same message in a totally different chapter…
“Ought not Christ to have suffered these things to enter His glory.” (Luke 24:26)
And I remember Jesus’ teachings…
- For His sake we are being put to death all day long. (Romans 8:26)
- That we might know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering. (Phil 3:10)
- They went away from the presence of the counsel, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His sake. (Acts 5:41)
- We suffer with Him so that we might be glorified wit Him. (Romans 8:17)
- If you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. (1 Peter 3:14)
- You will be hated by all because of My Name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matt 10:22)
- For to you, it has been granted, for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but to suffer for His sake. (Phil 1:29)
- We who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Cor. 4:11)
- To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:21)
Jesus didn’t disguise himself in plastic imagines, hide in the temple, or deny real suffering. Jesus actually was most drawn to the hurting.
We serve a God who was moved with compassion and identified with the broken.
“Compassion” being, “To suffer with…to identify with the anguish and woe of another.”
And I wonder if polishing our lives, hiding in images, or trying to petrify our lives from suffering, actually keeps us at a distance from God?
Do our protective walls actually take us farther away from the path that leads us to His resurrection, in us.
C.S. Lewis, on the doctrine of suffering, says…
- Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.
- It takes courage to live through suffering, and honesty to observe it.
- God who foresaw your tribulation, has especially armed you to go through it, not without pain, but without stain.
- God whispers in our pleasures, but shouts in our pain.
Looking back at my own life, there were seasons of suffering. At the same time, in the hardships is when His glory seemed to shine the brightest.
Fire = Glory.
I turn on a random station. A fiery Latina preaches how God has called us through the fire, not to avoid it.
She refreshes, the story of the fiery furnace…
- It is through that burning, the dross is lifted.
- It’s through that fire, Jesus is most seen with us.
- It’s through the flames, the ropes of our own bondage gets denigrated.
And a gospel of guaranteed healing, perfection and ease when we follow Jesus, grows churches, sells boo
ks, lifts platforms, and makes money…
Yet, scripture shatters this theology of Pharisees sitting apart in their chambers, protected from society, not letting the sick or injured near them, fearing they might be tainted.
And I am so thankful for scripture’s reminder…
- We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, etc. (Romans 5:3)
- Count it all joy, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. (James 1:2-4)
- The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18)
- 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.. 91 Peter 4:12)
- In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
The lie we must be purged from? “To be a Christian means to escape, hide or run from suffering.”
In fact, life is often the opposite of this world’s Escapism-Theology.
- Let’s clothe ourselves with a Biblical understanding of suffering. If Jesus experienced hardships, won’t we too?
- Let’s stop punishing ourselves when things aren’t perfect.
- Let’s shed guilt and shame, and run to a broken…instead of away from them?
God is a God of power and healing…
Yet, there is freedom when we can except that “in this world we will have troubles”.
Let’s stop avoiding the fire…“The light shines in the darkness”
And we can walk fearless and confident, knowing…Regardless of what we are experiencing…
“The darkness hasn’t overcome His light.” ~ John 1:5
(Linking with Jennifer)
UNITE LINK PARTY
Welcome to UNITE! It’s so good to be back. You are welcome to join! This is how it works!
18 Comments
The lie we must be purged from? “To be a Christian means to escape, hide or run from suffering…
So true. I am tired and saddened by the messages that say Christians are somehow above suffering. We are being refined through our suffering.
So love seeing you here, Lisa! So love that you have started blogging as well! Looking forward to connecting more, not just in real life, but in the blogging-world! 🙂
Thanks so much for hosting!
Thanks for joining us, Debbie!
Thank you for opening your Bible and finding the truth about suffering and pain — that we have a wounded God who suffered in our place, and then allows us to experience the fallenness of this broken planet so that we will be drawn to Him and find the promise of redemption!
Michele – And how glorious redemption, once we have known the pain of our own journey without Him!
Blessings, my friend!
Jen, This is so powerful and true! Thank you! I needed suffering to trust that God will hold me close through every circumstance. Shared this all over this morning!
Deb – Thanks for your generous “shares”, my friend! Oh how you bless me! So thankful for The Rock, that never moves, even when life does!
Wow! I didn’t know there were Christians out there that thought a relationship with Jesus was a get-out-of-suffering-free ticket! He still suffers when we suffer, and our comfort comes in knowing that he has survived every conceivable type of agony, so he can relate to us. That’s the ticket to understanding.
Aw, yes….Love this! “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin.” ~ Hebrews 4:15
The fellowship of His sufferings — this is a hard concept for many, but one that you learn as you continue moving forward in faith through the hard times. As we walk through the dark, we see Him the clearest.
Lyli –
So good! Ya, I think about this in fellowship with other people as well. When we got through “hard things” with people, we often have a bond with them that is unbreakable. How much more, when we embrace the fellowship of suffering with Christ! Oh to be known in those hard places and yet, loved just as much! Nothing else like it! Blessings, friend!
I have wrestled with these same things! There is a popular teaching, that is very palatable, that excludes suffering. Yet, Jesus said, in this world you’ll have tribulation.
Elizabeth –
Reminds me of that verse; “We are persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” 2 Cor 4:9-11
Such truth, friend~
Always a blessing to visit and link-up with you, Jen! Thank you for sharing and hosting! GOD bless you, Love! 🙂
Tai – Good seeing you after my little break! Hope your coming week is amazing!
The Prosperity Gospel is all too popular and attractive, but it is not the true gospel. Thank you for this wonderful perspective!
Oh friend,
Thankful with you for His truths! A life filled with trails and hardships, glory and beauty, and yet, all the while…deepening in an eternal relationship with Him! Nothing sweeter!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Anne!