Suffer to Worship

Tom Shrader walks through 1 Peter 4:12-19, distinguishing three categories of suffering — persecution for Christ, consequences of sin, and the ordinary wear and tear of life — before focusing on why God permits suffering and how believers should respond. Drawing on Romans 8:28 and stories from his own experience and others, Shrader argues that suffering produces maturity, reveals dependence on God, and is never outside His sovereign control. He closes with eight practical responses to hardship, anchored in the call of verse 19 to entrust one's soul to a faithful Creator while continuing to do what is right.

“God has structured and organized our lives to include problems and suffering. Your mission is not to stop the suffering, but find him in the midst of the hurt and the pain.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: 1 Peter

Recorded: 2012 at East Valley Bible Church

Duration: 50 min

Themes: suffering, persecution, trust, hardship, worship, faith, hope, surrender, going through hardship, feeling abandoned by God, struggling with doubt, grieving a loss, dealing with chronic pain, new believer, questioning faith, navigating tragedy

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:12-19, 1 Peter 1:1, 2 Timothy 3:12, James 1:2, Matthew 5:10-11, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 1 Thessalonians 4:11, Romans 8:28, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Corinthians 1, Daniel 1:8

Theological Themes: theodicy, sovereignty of God, sanctification, becoming holy, suffering for Christ, providence, Romans 8:28, 1 Peter 4

Full Transcript

Three Buckets of Suffering

Open your Bibles to the book of 1 Peter, chapter 4. We are going to look at verses 12 through 19. The heading in my Bible on this section is "Share the Sufferings of Christ," and that has, in a way, been the theme for the last four weeks. As we move into the last chapter of this book, there is an emphasis on serving in particular, so we will talk about that as well.

When I think of suffering — and we could use a word like persecution in there — I create in my mind three big buckets. The first is suffering as a result of our obedience to Christ, and the suffering or persecution that is associated with it: the mistreatment from people around us. The second bucket is suffering for sin or bad decisions. In our life we will sin, and there is a consequence to it, or we will just do things that are not necessarily sinful — they are just dumb.

I was on campus here Tuesday when Luke did a memorial service for Charlie Jolly, who was one of the guys on campus and then went out on the church plant at Gateway. In the course of the message, Luke reminded us of a poster that somebody had given me years ago. It was a picture of John Wayne, and the caption was, "Life is tough, especially if you're stupid." That is pretty much what the second bucket is — suffering because you keep doing the same thing over and over again.

The third bucket is what I would call the normal wear and tear of life, and we are never exempt from these. This is: you get old, your back hurts, your garage door opener breaks, your parents die, your kids die, your relationships break down. So when we think of suffering, trials, or tribulations, we can put them into those three big buckets.

A Flyover of 1 Peter 4:12–19

The context of this passage is that first bucket — the persecution idea. As I said, I found so much of what I prepared in studying this to be repetitious, so what I want to do is take a bit of a flyover of the passage, spending a little time on verse 12 and some time on verse 19, and then come all the way back around and tie this together by looking at suffering in a more general sense. Not necessarily buckets one or two, but that third bucket — suffering in our life. We will talk about why we suffer and what we do when suffering comes, so hopefully there is great application. But the application all stems from what will hopefully be really good theology.

Tim last week took us through verse 7 of chapter 4 — that the end of all things is near, so be sound, be sober, love one another, be hospitable, use your gifts. Now Peter comes along in verse 12, and it feels like an abrupt turn:

"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeals among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange things were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with His exaltation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Make sure that none of you suffer as murderers, or thieves, or evildoers, or troublesome meddlers."

By way of observation, Peter is saying there is a suffering attached in verses 12 through 14 that is a result of suffering for Christ, and then in verse 15 he says, do not be suffering for ill in your life, for things that you have done, for sin. Verse 16: "If anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not ashamed, but it is to the glory of God in His name." Verse 17: "For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God, and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel?"

Our judgment as Christians is not condemnation — our sins have already been judged and placed upon Christ on the cross. That will be a judgment for rewards. But Peter says as that judgment comes, there will then be judgment for those who do not know Christ, and that will be a fiery end. Verse 18: "And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will be the outcome of the godless man and godless sinner?" And then verse 19 pulls a conclusion: "Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right."

Do Not Be Surprised

That verse 19 really does set up the question of how I handle, how I live in the midst of suffering. The context for verse 12 comes out of Peter saying, I want you to do this — the end is near, love one another, be hospitable. And then he goes right in and says, now, do not be surprised that the testing continues.

Most of us have a kind of flinch in our life. As we draw closer to Christ and our life begins to look like His — as we take a life that was filled with sin and it now has less sin in it — all of a sudden hardship comes. And though we acknowledge we know it is not really this way, we think, "God, if You were going to discipline me, You should have done it before. Why are You doing this now?"

Don't Be Surprised by Suffering

I became a Christian in 1980, and shortly after that, within weeks, I was introduced to something I didn't even know existed: a Christian bookstore. My office was in downtown Phoenix, and there was one on Central, just south of Thomas, and another at 7th Avenue and Osborne. So perhaps a month into my faith, I was in the one at 7th Avenue loading up with books. As I was checking out, I spotted a leather-bound, gold-leaf book called *The Promises of God*. I asked if there was a paperback version, and there was, so I picked it up.

As I read through that book and through my Bible, I discovered that there were some promises in the Bible that didn't make it into *The Promises of God*. Here is one of them — 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 12: "All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." That little book is filled with wonderful promises of blessings and prosperity and all the good things that go with them, but something like that — which is equally a promise from God — was absent. As I begin to live for Him, there will be persecution, and there will be continued hardship and difficulty. My path is not strewn with roses.

Even today, there are about 250,000 Christians who are martyred around the world — who give their lives for Christ. The persecution that most of us encounter seems minuscule by comparison. Sandy and I were talking about this very lesson yesterday, and I read that in Sudan one of the things being done to Christians was that as they were being killed, they were actually being skinned. All of a sudden, having someone make fun of you at work doesn't seem so bad. I don't want to dismiss what we face — it is real — but it is very different.

What we may experience is an occasional discrimination at work, being passed over for a job, or old friends who mock our faith. We have had families in this church who were literally declared dead by their relatives because they came to Christ. Especially at this time of year, that is particularly hard — everyone is gathering with family, and they are simply not spoken to. The grandparents might call and talk to the grandchildren but completely ignore the parents. So there is a real level of suffering even in our context.

Testing That Produces Growth

Peter is writing to believers who are being persecuted — it is costing them everything to follow Christ. Remember, that is what we established at the very beginning of this letter. Chapter one, verse one describes them as those who are alien and scattered. So Peter says, do not be surprised by this. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that as you walk closer with Him, the persecution will be removed. The same is true for us. We should not think that as we grow closer to Christ, those who would oppose us will simply disappear, or that the suffering and pain of the world will somehow avoid us.

James chapter 1, verse 2 says, "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance." Peter echoes the same thing in verse 12: "Do not be surprised by these fiery ordeals among you which come upon you for your testing." The image there is like a proving ground where an automobile that has been manufactured is taken out and driven hard to see what is really there. These tests come, Peter says, and this is what they do — they grow you and mature you. They are spiritual aerobics.

I got up this morning to come here, and shortly after I got up, Sandy got up to run. It was a short day for her, so only about four and a half miles, and then she came back, had her tea, and at eight o'clock went and swam competitively for an hour. I cheer for her — that is about all I do anymore. I make sure her tea is ready when she gets home. I have not been to the gym since February, and then I got sick and it got worse. I have been walking, and this is my week to go back, and I know I am going to hate it. I know exactly how much it is going to hurt. I am smart enough not to push myself too hard, and perhaps a little too comfortable with that. But I know in my head that I have to push myself physically in order to get physically stronger.

God says the same is true spiritually. To get spiritually stronger, there must be things called trials, tests, and suffering. They make us dependent upon Him. Life comes at us, and Paul writes in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 —

Suffering as a Shared Experience with Christ

As he evaluates his life, in verse eight, he writes: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed." Eugene Peterson's paraphrase renders it this way: "We're surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized. We're not sure what to do, but we know God knows what to do. We've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side. We've been thrown down, but we're not broken."

Then Peterson adds, and this gets into the text in front of us: "What they did to Jesus, they'll do to us." So what Peter is saying is, don't be surprised by this. Don't come upon these things as if they were strange happenings occurring by chance. There is something behind all of this — God is still in control in the midst of it.

Rejoicing in Suffering and the Blessing That Follows

Verse 13 says, "To the degree that you share in the suffering of Christ." Now, this isn't His redemptive suffering, but suffering for the sake of Christ. To that degree, Peter seems to say, you can be rejoicing, because you will be blessed and rewarded for it. Matthew 5:10 speaks directly to this: "Blessed are those who've been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great."

That is what Peter is saying in verses 13 and 14. There is a time of hardship and difficulty, but at the end of that time, there is a reward. He speaks of the Spirit of glory and of God resting upon the believer.

John MacArthur writes this: "It's not merely because of the suffering that the Holy Spirit rests on believers, but rather that He is already present in the believer's life permanently, and that He gives them supernatural relief in the midst of suffering." The peace of God that passes all understanding does not necessarily eliminate the suffering, the hardship, or the difficult circumstances — it climbs into the midst of them with you. He rests upon you, present tense, to give relief.

Don't Suffer Needlessly for Your Own Wrongdoing

Verse 15 instructs believers not to be murderers, thieves, or evildoers. Those were capital crimes in the ancient world. "Evildoer" is a term all-encompassing of all sorts of crimes. And then Peter adds one more category: troublesome meddlers. If you trace the path from greatest severity to least, you have murderers, evildoers, and thieves — and then, at the other end, the meddler who involves himself in other people's business.

MacArthur writes: "Christians are never to be troublemakers or agitators in society or in the workplace. They may confront sin in the lives of other believers and help administer church discipline, or challenge unbelievers with the gospel and exhort fellow saints to greater levels of godliness, but regarding others' private matters, these do not concern them. Believers should never intrude inappropriately." Paul echoes this in 1 Thessalonians 4:11: "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business."

Peter's point is that there is no benefit in suffering for the wrong reasons. If you commit a capital offense and are penalized for it, you shouldn't be surprised. And if you are poking your nose into other people's business and suffer as a result, that is a waste of time and energy. Verse 16 then turns the contrast: if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not ashamed, but rather is to glorify the name of God — to praise God for the privilege of being associated with Him through suffering.

The Will of God and the Purpose Behind Hardship

Verse 19 states: "Those also who suffer according to the will of God." This points to at least two possibilities — either the suffering itself is the will of God, or the way a believer approaches it in obedience and submission is the will of God. The important point is this: God may want hardship, difficulty, and challenge in your life.

Not long ago, Sandy and I became DirecTV subscribers after spending years as Cox customers and hours on hold. On channels 363 through 373, there is what is billed as Christian television — church channels and the like. On certain days, it is, to use an image I have shared before, like drinking false doctrine out of a fire hydrant. One evening, I was watching one of the particularly troubling preachers — and yes, Sandy's response was the same as yours: turn the channel. I told her I needed just a little more material.

This particular teacher was insisting that God doesn't want you sick and God doesn't want you struggling. But I simply don't see that in Scripture. God brings about and allows all manner of things in Job's life — serious suffering and pain that He uses for Job's good. Job himself says at the end of it: "Before I heard about You, now I have seen You." It was for Job's good and, ultimately, for God's glory. So it is in our own lives. In the context of this passage, Peter's primary focus is persecution — but the principle extends to all suffering.

Entrusting Your Soul to the Faithful Creator

He said, "I want you to entrust." It is a banker's term referring to a deposit for safekeeping. He is saying, "I want you to entrust your soul, I want you to entrust your life to the faithful creator." It is the only time specifically in the New Testament that God is called creator. Here is what He is saying: in the midst of all this — and we can gather from verse 12 the implication that this may catch you off guard, or may cause you to regroup, maybe even question or doubt — I want you to entrust your soul to the creator, the author of everything. The designer of all, who sustains it all, who began it all, who continues it all. You can entrust Him with your soul, and then here is what you do: do what is right.

The Third Bucket: The Wear and Tear of Living

I want to come full circle and talk mostly about the suffering, hardship, and difficulty in our life. That is the third bucket — the wear and tear of living. I do not think anybody is surprised, or when you really talk about it somehow thinks it is unfair, that if you sin there may be consequences, suffering consequences. If you do foolish things over an extended period of time, foolish things will inevitably result in suffering. But that third part — the wear and tear — R.C. Sproul writes this: "To remove God from human suffering is to quit the pilgrimage of faith. God majors in suffering. He displays Himself in holy involvement in all suffering." Rather than being removed from our suffering, it is those very circumstances that allow us to see God at work and to be reminded that He is in control.

Sinking in the Noise

I was not feeling well last week, and then around Monday and Tuesday it got worse. I came in Wednesday and taught, went to a meeting, got sick in the middle of the meeting, and went home. I had commitments Thursday, went downtown for the early morning seven o'clock meeting, got sick right before that meeting, then texted Frank and asked him to take the noon hour. I went home and laid around working on this sermon, having a hard time concentrating — though I could concentrate on football well enough.

In the midst of that, I watched a lot of television — a lot of news, a lot of coverage. You get the sense that everything is wrong. Politics seems upside down. The economy, depending on who you believe, is teetering on an edge. And after a while, as I tell you all the time, if you have a steady diet of that kind of media, it is going to affect you — it is going to, potentially, screw up your spiritual life as well. I was sinking physically and sinking emotionally, saying, "This is awful." As you look around the world — and maybe you do not even need to look at the world, you can just look at your own life — you get a sense that things are not good.

False Gods and True Trust

Things can go in a couple of directions when you are in that place. You feel like you are doing everything right, but it is not working. And God comes along and reminds us, over and over again, that if our faith and trust is in free market capitalism, or the Republican Party, or the Tea Party, or the Democrat Party, we are going to be disappointed — because at that point, we have made those things a false god. Our faith and trust should be in Him.

Romans 8:28 and the Context of Suffering

I attend a Friday study on scripture memory, and I thought about what passage I would share if called upon. The one that came to mind first was Romans 8:28. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." I take that verse and place it directly in the context of this whole idea of suffering.

If we had a Bible with only that one verse in it, and we knew it to be true, we would already know that God is all-knowing and all-powerful — because that verse could not be true otherwise. And then I add to it the rest of this book, which tells me He loves me and cares for me. In the middle of suffering and pain, I have to understand that these things may be out of my control, but they are not out of God's control.

Protecting Theology in the Midst of Pain

One of the things I learned a long time ago is that when suffering comes, the first thing we often jettison is sound theology — either out of fear that we cannot fit it into our framework, or because we want to protect God's reputation. All of a sudden, when you suffer, you are trying to put it in a box. I was a Christian for about three years when a book came out that several people recommended to me. There were a couple of Christian celebrities who had endorsed it, so I went to the bookstore and got it. As I read it, each page was worse than the last.

God Has Not Been Diminished by Your Pain

There was a book called *Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?* and when you get to chapter seven, the title should have been the tip-off: "God Can't Do Everything, But He Can Do Some Very Important Things." In the sterile environment of a room like this, we laugh at that. But when you are in the middle of hurt and pain, your head often goes to that same place — where is God? I get it.

The author was moved by the death of his son in a traffic accident and was trying to work through the pain. His answer was to take God, minify Him, make Him impotent, and say, "I know if God could have, He would have stopped it." That is not true. God either causes or allows everything, or He is not God.

Joy Found in the Wreckage

I was teaching at a fairly large church in Tucson on a Sunday morning, and one of my pet peeves is a guest speaker who drops his load and then disappears. I told the congregation upfront: I am going to do exactly that today, because I had to be back in Phoenix within about two and a half hours. When I ended, they played a song, and I went out the back door.

Going down the hallway, there was a woman standing behind and pushing another woman in a wheelchair. There was no way to avoid them, so I stopped and said hello. The woman in the wheelchair told me she had really enjoyed the message, which had been on suffering. I said I felt a little embarrassed, because my version of suffering is if Starbucks makes my drink wrong — she was operating on a very different level. She said, "No, what you said was exactly true."

She went on to say that before her condition, she had been the most impatient person in the world. Then this happened, and she became a literally totally different person. She said, and I quote, "God really taught me patience." I am not saying that if you are an impatient person, God is going to put you in a wheelchair. I am saying there is something that happens in the midst of suffering.

The Evangelist Who Could Barely Speak

I was teaching in Forrest's home, and they wanted to do a Q&A at the end of the last session. There was a man in the back, the acoustics were bad, and I could not understand a word he said. It was also clear he was having some difficulty speaking. I asked him to come up afterwards so we could talk.

When he came up, he apologized and said, "My mind sometimes races and my tongue can't keep up." He explained that he had been in a car accident and was in a coma for three and a half months, with some obvious lingering damage. Then he said he wanted to be an evangelist, because his life was so filled with joy — joy in the midst of suffering and pain. His friend standing nearby added that the joy he carried was something that touched everyone around him.

Dave Dravecky: Losing an Arm to Gain a Platform

I had told a story for years that was always speculative, until one day I sat down with Dave Dravecky and asked him directly. I told him I had been telling this story and asked whether it was true. He said yes.

Dave Dravecky was an all-star pitcher, and he and his wife were praying together, asking God to use them and their platform. His arm required surgery, and after he returned to pitching, he threw a pitch one day and the infielder said it was like a gun going off. When they examined him, they found cancer, and they had to take his arm. Everyone said, "Isn't this tragic? Isn't this terrible?"

I would assert that God was responding to Dave's prayer. Dave was asking God to use him in a significant way, and God said, "I am fine with that, but I am going to need that left arm." Dravecky confirmed that is exactly how he sees it. He has been on platforms with Barbara Walters, and literally millions of people have been touched through that story. We look at an event like that and call it awful. We see it as one isolated moment cut out of a period of time, and we fail to understand that it is all part of God's story.

Your Mission Is Not to Stop the Suffering

All of that caused me to write these two sentences. God has structured and organized our lives to include problems and suffering. Your mission is not to stop the suffering, but to find Him in the midst of the hurt and the pain — not to be absorbed by the pain.

Don't Escape — Learn

Don't try to find a way out. I'm not saying, if there's suffering, don't try to alleviate it, but not prematurely, and not at the expense of failing to learn from that event. If I'm in the midst of some painful situation, it is totally fair and wise to ask myself: How did I get here? What's God doing? What is He teaching me?

I say this not just to you, but to your friends. Along comes a friend — and I hope I don't sound cold and uncaring, because I'm not — along comes a friend with a hardship in their life, and you do a bank sale and a garage sale, and you raise money for them, and you never take the time to say, "You've got this financial pressure, and it can really only be one of two things: either you're not making enough money, or you're spending too much money." If it's the latter, all of a sudden your garage sales are going to become an annual event. You haven't taught them anything, and they haven't learned anything.

That's not to say there aren't things that happen in life that are way beyond our control. But this suffering comes for a reason, for a purpose. What's God doing?

Why Do People Suffer?

So there are two questions before us with about fifteen minutes left: Why do people suffer? And what do I do when suffering comes?

Some of you may have at home the old Wilmington Bible with those long lists of biblical topics. In it, there's a section on why people suffer — I have twenty-five reasons. I'm obviously not going to read them all to you, but let me give you a flavor.

The first three reasons are: to produce joy, to produce patience, and to produce maturity. I saw that in Larry Wright's life. I did not know Larry before he had arthritis, but he would tell me that before that arthritis came, he would call himself the most selfish man in the world. I knew him as the most legitimately humble and caring man I had ever been around. I contend to this day that the suffering, the pain, and the hardship did that for him.

Suffering purifies your life. It teaches you. It allows you to confess sin when sin results in suffering. This is my favorite: it reveals ourselves to ourselves. Sometimes we're so cocky and arrogant — "I could handle anything" — and then along comes this small thing and you fold like a cheap suit. Other times you're thinking, "I'm so weak, I don't know if I could handle anything," and then God gives you a blessing and a strength beyond anything you can imagine.

Suffering drives us closer to God — there's no question about that. My prayer life is much deeper when the scan comes back with a spot on it than when the scan comes back clean. I tend to draw closer to Him when the deal blows than when the deal makes, when the child is sick rather than when the child is not sick. It also prepares us for ministry. As 2 Corinthians 1 teaches, it prepares you to sit down with somebody and say, "Listen, I've been there. I know what you're going through." It shows us the sovereignty of God, and it gives us the ability to begin to understand the testing of God.

So why do people suffer? There's a list you can add to, but the broad bumper-sticker answer is this: for our good and His glory.

Eight Things to Do When Suffering Comes

Now let me give you eight things to do when suffering comes.

**Number one: Don't be surprised.** You can get this from 1 Peter 4:12. Suffering is part of the Christian life. I believe it is either a false reading of Scripture, false teaching, or outright charlatanism when someone says God wants you healthy and wealthy. God may want you struggling — and I just gave you a list of reasons why. Don't be surprised by this. You are not immune from it. Becoming a Christian did not mean you left behind the pilgrimage of not just faith, but of life itself.

**Number two: Commit yourself to the Lord.** We studied the book of Daniel several months ago. In Daniel 1:8, Daniel is about to confront the king and all the powers of the kingdom, and it says that Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself. At the very beginning, he resolved it. That is the posture you see in 1 Peter 4:19 — that you are going to entrust your life, deposit your life, in Him, trusting Him.

**Number three: Don't try to understand all of it.** If you're a really sharp person who is here today — maybe someone dragged you along, or you're visiting from out of town, or this is your version of penance — you're going to hate this one. Sandy and I went out for dinner last night and she said, "I think being really, really smart is a curse." I said, "Well, I have no experiential data to support that." One of the things I observe among very smart people is that they try to reduce God to a set of equations they can easily understand, comprehend, or explain. But some of God is inexplicable. He is bigger than you, smarter than you, and more powerful than you. He does not owe you an answer. It is arrogant to think you need to understand everything, or that you need to know what God is doing before you can approve of it.

**Number four: Realize you are not the only person who has ever gone through this.** As 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, you will not be tested beyond what you can endure. These are tests, temptations, and difficulties that are common to man. Out of the seven billion people on this planet, it is rare that you are the only one who has ever gone through what you are facing.

When Suffering Becomes Your Identity

Not feeling well has a way of making you feel like the only person who has ever suffered. I remember when Susan was sick and came in to check on me during a bout of flu, and I told her she might want to call Faulkner Funeral Home because I was in such bad shape. When she turned to leave I called her back and said, "You need to know, no one has ever had the flu as bad as I have it right now." And sometimes that is exactly how you feel — that you are the only one.

Suffering and pain and hardship can pull you deeper and deeper into yourself, and it becomes very hard to get out. You become self-absorbed, and then you become identified with your affliction. Every time anyone sees you they ask how you are doing, and you either give them an insincere "I'm fine," or you begin to unpack it and sink worse and worse into it. So it is important to understand that there are a lot of people going through what you are going through.

Pray and Give Thanks

Number five on our list — and you would assume this — is pray. The very act of praying acknowledges that God has the capacity not only to hear us, but to do something about it if He so inclines. It is bigger than me, it is beyond me.

Number six is to thank God for it. Gather around the Thanksgiving table and most people pray for mom, for dad, for the house, for the job, for the car. But nobody says, "Father, thank you for this cancer, thank you for this unemployment." How can I be thankful for that? We have been through this before, but let us go through it one more time. The testing of my faith produces endurance. God is in the process of drawing me closer and closer to Him. When I pray that I want to break the tape, that I want to be there at the end and hear "well done, good and faithful servant," He hears that and allows me to be tried and tested and to suffer. It is spiritual aerobics.

Don't Become a Martyr — and Don't Suffer Needlessly

Number seven is don't become a martyr, and number eight is a version of that: don't suffer needlessly. There are certain people you meet for whom the only time they seem comfortable is when there is turmoil in their life. It is like one of those snow globes with the sleigh ride inside — you shake it up and the snow flies, and then you watch it settle down, and it seems like they are constantly shaking their life back up again. Whether they thrive on it or consider themselves problem solvers, the point is the same: don't create points of stress and hardship and suffering just for the sake of it.

There is a moment in Jesus' life where He comes upon a sick man and asks him a question that I initially thought was odd. He said to the sick man, "Do you want to be healed?" I did not give it much thought until I heard Larry teach on it. Larry said that when he himself was very sick he had to admit there were real benefits to it — great parking everywhere he went, nobody expecting him to do anything, Sue never asking him to take out the garbage or mow the grass. Don't suffer needlessly.

Larry's summary of that passage is something you may have heard before: I would rather suffer obediently than prosper disobediently. On the surface that sounds strange — who would rather suffer than prosper? But the qualifier makes all the difference. I would rather suffer obediently than prosper disobediently because I know — and there is that word again, what we know trumps what we feel — that my obedient suffering is as temporary as my disobedient prospering. This is all temporary. No matter how bad it gets, and we do not say this in some flip or uncaring way, it can only last a lifetime. That is the perspective we hold onto.

The Hope That Sustains Us

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "The Christian hope of resurrection sends a man back into his life on earth in an entirely new way." That whole idea of the afterlife — the reward, the exaltation that comes when Christ returns — is one of the things that sustains us.

Years ago I came across an anonymous prayer attributed to a Confederate soldier. I was preparing for our Wednesday morning Priority Living lesson, which covers very similar ground, and this prayer came to mind. I was certain I had no chance of finding it since I had no notes filed away, but I typed in the one phrase I remembered and Google brought it right up. I want to read it to you now.

A Confederate Soldier's Prayer

I asked God for strength that I might achieve, and I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health that I might do great things. I was given humility that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy. I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life, and I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

And here is the summary: I got nothing that I asked for, but everything that I hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

Suffering Transformed by Meaning

I asked for, but everything I hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am among all men most richly blessed. I think of that in the context of suffering because I almost lose a sense of what is good or bad. It is the Rebekah thing. Then along comes this cancer, and I get on this limited scale.

I would not write it out — isn't that interesting? I would not write out, "God, I want cancer." I would write out, "God, I want a platform, and I want to be used." So in a circumstantial sense, there is almost this case where I do not even know good from bad. I am not talking morally now. How many times have you heard of something coming into somebody's life, and they say, "I would not want it, I would not ask for it, but I would not trade it for the world." God shut this down, and there was this amazing opportunity over here.

Encouragement for Those Who Are Suffering

I say that by way of encouragement, and I hope you understand. If you are here today and you are suffering and you are hurting, know that as a result of a personal relationship with Christ, that suffering and hurting and pain has meaning. In the broadest sense, it is for your own good — we may not understand that for a while — and ultimately, it is for His glory.

You can entrust yourself to Him; He is trustworthy. He will not leave you, He will not forsake you. He did not blink, He did not miss it. He either caused it or allowed it, and He will use it, ultimately, for your good. "We know God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose" — and that is us.

The Cross Makes It All Meaningful

The thing that makes all of that have meaning is the cross. Let me pray as Jake comes to lead us in communion.

Father, thank You that we can look at a lesson like this — the suffering and the hardship and the pain — and be reminded that though things feel like they are out of control, they are not out of Your control. God, we pray that You would continue to sustain us, that in the midst of suffering and hurt and pain, You would use it in our lives to draw us closer to You, so that we may be a shining light to the people around us. Father, we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.