The Other Side of Suffering
When I was a kid optical illusion books were a fad one year. It seemed like a novelty gift you received at a white elephant gift exchange or read while waiting for the dentist. The trick was to blur your eyes, shift your focus to behind the page and an image, that at the surface looked like dots, would appear as a solid object in 3D. It was really hard for me to see them. I had had eye therapy as a kid and just to focus normally was challenging. Unlike me, friends could pick up the book and see the hidden image instantly. I know those books really did work, as once I saw it too and I was really excited but I lost focus and the image was gone.
The same can be said for suffering. You can see the issue multiple ways and to behold it with a divine perspective takes concentration. Our verse this week explains how Christ thought about suffering and if we begin thinking about it the same way He does becomes a shield to our faith.
Why do we need to be mindful of the way we think about suffering? Human beings’ default is to avoid pain. It’s an unpleasant experience and no one likes it. When going through pain, we are open to suggestions about God that we may not be when we are cruising through life. If God loved you would He allow you to go through this? I’ve been a faithful Christian, why isn’t He preventing this from happening to me? Is it worth hanging onto my faith when it hurts so badly? In the dark night of the soul, we must confront these questions that come from the way the world looks at things, our own desire to avoid the suffering, or the lie-filled tongue of the enemy. We tend to dull the pain, avoid it, or take control and make it go away. We need assurance that the truth of God’s word is indeed the way through.
Now I’m not saying that we should put on a happy face and come across as doing well when when we are not. James 1:2 says we are to consider our trials joy, not to pretend they don’t hurt. We have to look at our suffering from a different perspective, the perspective of Jesus.
One way we can emulate the attitude of Christ in suffering is to come to it willingly. The AMP translation expands our key verse with these clarifiers:
Therefore, since [a]Christ suffered in the flesh [and died for us], arm yourselves [like warriors] with the same purpose [being willing to suffer for doing what is right and pleasing God]
Christ found purpose in His suffering.
He was willing to do it and it took away the enemy’s power in the suffering. Why was He willing? He had joy set before Him[1]-the joy of spending eternity with us. His plan was determined before the world was made[2] that He would suffer in our place[3]. When Jesus was in the garden, before His arrest, He confessed in prayer that He wanted there to be another way but He would willingly submit to the Father’s will[4]. Like Christ, we can be willing to suffer.
Though it’s not easy, it’s possible because after embracing Jesus as our Lord, His life becomes ours. We don’t live for ourselves anymore.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. Galatians 2:20
If we keep reading 1 Peter 4, verse three explains that the time for gratifying my own desires is over. And how did it really help me? To satisfy my sensuality or emotional needs apart from God might have temporarily numbed me or satisfied my base desires, but it never lasted. What I thought would bring life brought death[5]. Again, the AMP describes verse 3 so well:
because whoever has suffered in the flesh [being like-minded with Christ] is done with [intentional] sin
John 1 says, we deceive ourselves if we claim to never sin[6], but we don’t do so with intention. We don’t want to live in that state. We throw off anything that hinders us[7].
Lastly, expect it. We are not promised an easy road until Jesus returns or takes us home; through many trials we will enter the kingdom[8]. We need to expect trials because we are living surrounded by our enemies[9]: the devil, the flesh and the world.
There are 3 enemies every Christian faces, the devil, the flesh, and the world[10]. If we are willing to suffer, we take away the enemy’s power. If we deny ourselves and commit to holiness, we take away our sinful nature’s power. If we do both these things, expecting to suffer, we take away the world’s power because we won’t be trying to please it anymore.
Protect your faith but having the same attitude about suffering as Jesus, be willing to suffer, please God and not yourself, expect it’s coming and you find Christ changing you to be more like Him as you suffer[11].
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