Suffering

Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake”

What a joy it is to know that that we have been given the opportunity to know the Lord and believe in Him. However, we might not all agree that suffering for the Lord is a joy or one of our to-do’s. Yesterday, the subject was on Paul being a poured out as a drink offering for the church at Philippi. In his second letter to the church in Corinth, he describes all of the dangers and suffering he had endured. Not all of us as followers of the Lord will have to be imprisoned for our faith, beaten, whipped, shipwrecked, and so on. However, we will experience hardships in our life.

Consider some of the hardships you’ve already encountered in your life, if you had known about it beforehand, you might have doubted that you could make it through. However, the Lord was there to see you through it. For those of who are committed to living out our lives in complete commitment to the calling of Christ, we must remember that there will be times of consolation and times of spiritual struggle. Christ suffered for our sake so we should have an attitude of willingness to do the same for Him if it were to come to that. The reality is though… life is hard, people are cruel, we are sinners, so suffering will happen.

This does not mean that we should lose hope or despair. Because if God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31). If you recall, Moses reminded Joshua not to be fearful or despair because the Lord was going to go before him. Have faith in the Lord when you are going through hard times. Ask the Lord for grace, for patience, and for strength.

Psalm 3:1-4 “O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, ‘There is no salvation for him in God.’ Selah

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and He answered me from His holy hill. Selah”