"We must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God," (cf. Acts 14:22).
"God left him, to try him, to know all that is in his heart," (cf. 2 Chron. 31:22).
"He speaks to them in their affliction," (cf Job 36:15, NIV).
"God whispers in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. They are God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world." --C. S. Lewis
"If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you'll be at rest!" --Corrie ten Boom
"Jesus is not one of many ways to approach God, nor is He the best of several ways, He is the only way." --A. W. Tozer
As the Apostle Paul said in Acts 20:24, "None of these things move me," so we must learn to bear the cross Christ has given us for the sake of the Name. Our cross is not the problems everyone commonly has, but what happens because we name the name of Christ and how that affects us; e.g., persecution. But we can know the peace of God despite this cross. God never promised us a bed of roses and Reality 101 is that we will be involved in the angelic conflict. We are not meant to become stoics who think that the aim in life is to grin and bear it, but we are to show our attitude that we see purpose in all circumstance due to Providence and are assured of Christ's presence through the affliction--and many are the afflictions of the righteous (cf. Psa. 34:19).
We rejoice in our sufferings (cf. Rom. 5:3) without getting a martyr's complex or thinking that the more we suffer, the holier we are. It is through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of God (cf. Acts 14:22). All believers will experience tribulation, adversity, and affliction to produce character and Christlikeness: "We know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character" (Rom. 5:3, NCV).
Having read the novel by Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage, I realize that the seasoned believer, the one who has matured through adversity and has had his faith tested and passed with flying colors, doesn't wear the faith as a badge of honor, for it's a gift--not something we conjure up of our own effort or doing (we don't achieve it, we receive it!). We don't need self-esteem or self-confidence but we must cultivate God-esteem and God-confidence! We go through these trials for our own good to strengthen and confirm our faith. No believer is exempt, and Christ was honest enough to warn us. He didn't exempt Himself and our crosses pale in comparison! |
Job is the example of suffering par excellence in Scripture, whereby we cannot comprehend its full meaning since we are finite beings. God doesn't owe us an explanation! He never explains Himself to Job, but just reveals Himself. Someone has said, "God is too wise to make a mistake, too kind to be cruel, and too deep to explain Himself!" In the meantime, there is an angelic conflict going on behind the scenes. We may ask, "Why?" but God says, "Who?" We must learn to keep focused on Christ and not get tripped up by Satan. It was John Milton who wrote, "Who best can suffer, best can do." Our faith is more precious than silver or gold and we must know if it's genuine and can stand the test of time and affliction or adversity. It's for our sake, not God's sake, that we must be tested--we must have confidence that we have faith!
We must realize that the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay! We either become bitter or better by tribulation! We all have a crucible to carry and must realize that without a cross there's no crown! We tend to wonder why bad things seem to happen to good people (as Harold Kushner's book ponders), but then again, there are no good people in God's estimation! We should be asking why do good things happen to bad people? Scripture says that we are privileged to suffer for Christ and this comes with the territory! Job faithfully proclaimed: "... When he has tried me, I will come out as gold" (Job 23:10, ESV). A word of encouragement is that even Christ learned obedience by what He suffered (cf. Heb. 5:8).
Finally, when you've been through a trial with the Lord, you have a certain fellowship of suffering (of having been there and done that with the body of Christ per Phil. 3:10) and you can use it to help others in their time of testing and trial. The God of all comfort comforts us so that we can comfort others in their time of need--but we don't want to be like Job's comforters who judged him! The best we can do is to be there for them and offer consolation and sympathy. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15, ESV). Soli Deo Gloria!
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