What Will You Do With Your Suffering?

Quin. A
3 days ago
5 min read

Welcome back to Write On! Wednesday. The Apostle Paul made a very interesting statement in Colossians 1:24. He said, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church”. Say what now, Paul? You rejoiced in your suffering?

Who realistically does that? Who is joyful due to the hard things they endure? Am I to say with joy, “Whew, I’m glad my house is foreclosed!” “Goodness, I’m thrilled that I received that diagnosis from the doctor!” “I’m so glad that I’m having financial problems right now!” or “It’s so good that I am struggling mentally” or “Spiritually, I have this nagging issue but I love it!!” “Hip, Hip, Hooray, I love suffering?”

What are we to make of Paul’s statement about suffering?

The last statement of verse 24 puts everything in the right perspective. Paul says he rejoiced in his suffering “for the sake of His body, which is the church”. Christ endured suffering for the sake of our restoration to God. Did our Lord love to be spit upon? Did He adore being beaten beyond recognition? No, it wasn’t the pain that He loved. It was the salvation for all those who would believe in Him that brought Him joy.

Likewise, it's not the suffering in of itself that caused Paul to rejoice, but it was what it did for the church. Because of Paul’s suffering, he was able to encourage the church to continue in their faith despite their suffering, just as he continued in his faith. Paul says that through Christ we are “presented holy and blameless” if we continue in the faith– which can be hard when suffering presents itself to us.

But instead of drifting away from the faith during hard times or questioning why God allowed the pain, Paul viewed the suffering as an opportunity to encourage others. What if we began to look at our suffering in the same light? What if we decided to thank God for allowing us to share in His suffering?

John 13:16 tells us that a servant is not greater than their Master. So, if Christ suffered, we are called to do the same. Romans 8:17 says we are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” A part of being God’s child involves suffering. And honestly, not being God’s child involves suffering, too. Either way, we will suffer.

So, I suppose the question then becomes, what will you do with it? What will you do with your suffering? Will we only beg God to take it away? Or will we use it as an opportunity to aid others in their suffering? Will we allow God to receive glory in our suffering?

And to make it personal, suffering allows us to see that God is who He says He is … that He is who others have proclaimed Him to be. In Psalm 139, David said that there is no where we can go where God’s presence isn’t also there with us. “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” (Psalm 139:8). It’s one thing to experience God’s presence when life is going well for us, but when we are enduring hellish trials, that’s when we get to see if God is who He proclaims to be.

If we find ourselves in a comfortless environment, but we still receive comfort from God, then He has proven Himself to be the God of all comfort as stated in 2 Corinthians 1:3. If we are surrounded by our enemies and can’t seem to tell the difference between night and day, but then suddenly, our enemies are under our feet, then God has proven to be the Lord of Hosts who is in control of all things in heaven and earth.

Oddly enough, suffering is a wonderful opportunity to see God’s sovereignty in ways unimaginable. Almost every miracle we see in the Bible began with a form of suffering that was transitioned into a form of glory. The birth of Issac occurred after a lifetime of Abraham and Sarah suffering from barrenness. The miracle of the Red Sea occurred after hundreds of years of the Israelites suffering in slavery. The miracle of Paul converting from Judaism to Christianity occurred after he suffered years believing lies. There is always glory after suffering.

This doesn’t mean that everyone’s glory will look the same. Some people’s glory looks like full deliverance from a particular form of suffering. Other people’s glory looks like suffering through heartaches while consistently giving God praise and encouraging others, which is still glorious! Wasn’t Paul’s life glorious despite his thorn in the flesh? God’s glory though Paul looked different than the woman with the issue of blood who was fully delivered from her suffering. Yet, both of their lives showcased God’s glory. And if there is any form of glory, there should also be rejoicing.

So, reader, I just wanted to encourage you to rejoice despite your suffering. Rejoice in your suffering. Ask God to meet you in your suffering. Ask Him to show you how to navigate it– how to give Him glory in it. Maybe there’s a soul He needs you to minister to. Maybe your suffering isn’t about you. Perhaps, like Christ, your suffering is for the benefit of others.

Nothing about suffering is easy. It’s difficult to rejoice when life is gloomy and hearts are heavy. But I’m just the messenger. We are called to rejoice in our sufferings. We are called to carry God’s light, joy, and peace despite it all. So …

What will you do with your suffering?

As for me and my suffering, I will continue to cast them on the shoulders of my Lord. I’ll probably still cry about them. I’ll probably still wonder if I have to bear these crosses all my life or if the Lord will perhaps exchange them for something else … But I will also allow the Lord to sit with me in it without always questioning, “Why me?”

I’ll ask the Lord to help me rejoice in what can be produced and what has been produced through this suffering. And I’ll ask God to guide me on what He wants me to do next to possibly help others while I bear the burden of my crosses.

What will you do with yours?

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