Dr. Craig Mobey
A few days ago, I read this blessing, “May the tears you cried in 2022 water the seeds you’re planting in 2023.” I love it.
I am not so sure that tears and planting seeds can be separated from each other. To be honest, I am still figuring much of it out. Yet, the more I think about it, the more I realize that it is pointing me toward finding meaning in those tears.
At the same time, as we are heading toward Christmas and the New Year, there is a large part of me crying out to the Lord, “In 2023, I want to see a harvest.”
What I have figured out, is that because of Christmas–God becoming man–our suffering is very, very different to an unbeliever’s suffering. Not that an unbeliever does not suffer, it’s that an unbeliever’s suffering can be comparatively lonely and meaningless. As believers, our suffering–because of Jesus–is a place of growth, meaning, and purpose through which God is glorified.
This message of suffering and attitude might not be the message we want to hear so close to Christmas, but it might be the very message we need to hear, so close to Christmas.
Suffering is maybe one of those things we can all easily associate with, but do not necessarily embrace. Let’s talk about it.
Scripture: Acts 9:10-16 (NIV)
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem.
14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.
16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Introduction
On the one hand, some argue that God would show Paul through a vision, and on the other hand, others argue that Paul would see this as the future unfolds.
Either way, the persecutor became the sufferer.
Let’s take a step backwards and add some context. Paul’s ancestry was Hebrew, from the Benjamite lineage and his family was Roman citizens. His parents were Pharisees and as such, would try and protect him from being “contaminated” by the Gentiles. Paul (then Saul), age 13, went to study under rabbi Gamaliel and he mastered Jewish history, Psalms, the work of the prophets, dissecting Scripture and he went on to become a lawyer. He could be described as an uncompromising religious extremist because of his passion for his faith. After Stephen’s death, he was determined to eradicate Christians (Acts 8:1-3).
The persecutor became the sufferer as he would spend the rest of his life proclaiming and proving the risen Jesus Christ, with zeal and passion.
The Bottom Line
He knew, before entering a city, that suffering was waiting for him (Acts 20:23). He was kidnapped (Acts 21:27). And beaten (Acts 21:30-31; 23:3), threatened (Acts 22:22; 27:42), repeatedly arrested (Accts 21:33; 22:24, 31; 23:35; 28:16), accused (Acts 21:34; 22:30; 24:1-2; 25:2, 7; 28:4), interrogated (Acts 25:24-27), ridiculed (Acts 26:24), ignored (Acts 27:11), shipwrecked (Acts 27:41) and bitten by a snake (Acts 28:3). Although not mentioned in Scripture, tradition suggests that he died a martyr’s death.
None of this was enough to silence or stop him.
I have noticed something interesting, and that is how people respond in groups and on Facebook to posts:
- Post something funny, and people laugh with you, even share the post.
- Post something serious and challenging, and post engagement drops.
- Post something along the lines of “I know that you are suffering, and God will make a way,” and post engagement skyrockets.
My observation is simple: people are suffering, they don’t like it, and they want it to stop.
Let me briefly enter with you, a virtual classroom. The lecture is on a Theology of Suffering, and we are just in time to hear the lecturer, McKenna, tie things up:
“Theology of suffering is the study of what the Bible says about suffering while considering who God is and the current state of humanity. Many different cultures have their own interpretations of why people suffer. For Christians, it is important to have a Biblical view of why God allows suffering and how we are to go through it. As followers of Jesus, we get the opportunity to glorify God through our suffering until we meet Him face to face and live forever with Him.”
McKenna’s final words resonate with us, “Theology of suffering is the study of what God says about suffering and how we are to respond to it.”
At the same time, it is not God’s nature to torture us or cause us to suffer. People ask, “If God is a loving God, why would He allow anyone to suffer?”
A few important things need to be said:
- Suffering entered the world with the fall. God is not the cause of suffering.
- We must know who God is, in other words, sovereign, loving, gracious, merciful, almighty, slow to anger, powerful, all present, all-seeing, not bound by time and so forth. Suffering does not change who God is.
- In suffering there is both purpose and meaning, that will result in God being glorified.
- Think deeply about the following: cause implies blame while purpose implies meaning.
Have you noticed that when people suffer, a large percentage of them also turn to God for everything? Suffering takes us closer to God; it rightfully creates a dependence on God. When we turn to God, he strengthens us, helps us, and provides refuge for us.
Suffering is also where we question what we really believe; it’s where we intimately meet our questions, pain, and doubts. And through His Word, God answers all of them as He reveals His purposes and plans.
Suffering is a place of purification from sin and therefore a mechanism that helps us conform to the image of Jesus.
When you suffer and are persecuted for your faith you are also declaring God’s saving grace and faithfulness in your life. You are an ambassador for Jesus; one in a long line of many who have gone through trials and suffering while the Lord brings more and more to Him. Therefore, when you suffer, make the intellectual and emotional decision to embrace that opposition to His glory and purposes.
The substance of Matthew 5:10-12 is that members of the body of Christ all rejoice together in their sufferings because they are counted as worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus’ name. Similarly, when one member of the body of Christ suffers, all suffer, because Jesus is the head of the Body, which is the Church.
Suffering keeps our eyes on eternity. Jesus is coming again, and until then, we keep our eyes fixed on Him. Our present life circumstances do not determine the validity of who Jesus is, what He has done, what He is doing and what He will still do.
I can continue with suffering character forming, suffering, and becoming more like Jesus, suffering producing endurance and more. I think that you get the idea.
Ultimately, suffering is something through which God will be glorified and a place of spiritual growth for us. Even though we suffer, God is still good, and we are comforted by the fact that nothing can separate us from His love.
It is also true that any Christian work in a broken world involves suffering. Always has been and will be. Both the Bible and history are clear on this.
Conclusion
This message of suffering and attitude might not be the message we want to hear so close to Christmas, but it might be the very message we need to hear, so close to Christmas.
As long as our focus is on our suffering; as long as our focus is on things temporary and as long as our focus is dominated by what we don’t have–then we will “suffer with suffering.”
But with Christmas in mind, let Christmas also be the reminder that if our eyes are on our Saviour, then our suffering has meaning and purpose, and we, in His strength and under His shelter, can endure it, to His glory and for His purposes.
In Acts 28:31, we read that Paul, despite everything he has gone through, still shared the good news of Jesus Christ, “He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!”
In Philippians 1:12–14, Paul wrote from prison, “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.”
Through his hardships and suffering, Paul knew the outcome of a life lived for Christ. Paul was not afraid to tell others what the Lord had done for him. Paul spent all his days, from conversion to martyrdom, working tirelessly for the kingdom of God.
Can we make the same claim?
Amen.