"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church" (Col. 1:24, ESV)
"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" (Phil. 1:29, ESV).
"[T]hat I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings..." (Phil. 3:10, ESV).
Paul rejoiced "that what has happened to [him] has really served to advance the gospel" (Phil. 1:12, ESV). If we have a meaning behind why we're suffering, we can endure it for Christ's sake. It serves a larger purpose than ourselves, God is turning evil into good and all of our trials, tribulations, tests, and sufferings are but to bring glory to God as we are vessels of honor in His sight. We must cling to the promise of Romans 8:28 that all things will work together for our good and God is too kind to be cruel, too wise to make a mistake, and too deep to explain Himself; even Job got no reason or explanation for his trial, only a revelation! Even when evil befalls us, God means it for good (cf. Gen. 50:20). It's not a matter of "Why?" but "Who?" It is a proven psychological fact that when people are given a "why" for their suffering, they can endure nearly any "how." This is focused on our attitude, to rejoice in the Lord always! When we see the big picture of God's providence, we can have the right attitude. Only we can choose our attitudes.
If we know God, we will trust Him through thick and thin, and when the chips are down our faith will be all the stronger. There is no kismet or blind fate of Islam, but we have a personal God who gives us a destiny. We aren't called to be stoics of depressing fatalism though and sing "Que sera, sera," "What will be, will be..." as Doris Day sang, nor to gladly let the chips fall where they may, but seek God's preceptive will through Scripture, knowing that His decreed, hidden will is none of our business (cf. Deut. 29:29 says, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God..."). Stoics are called the philosophers of the "stiff upper lip," because they just believe we have to grin and bear it, no matter what and just accept our fate--resignation or accepting the status quo is not faith. But Christianity is not determinism!
We have a destiny to participate in and God has plans for our good and to bless us in doing His work. (Jer. 29:11, ESV, says, "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, plans to give you a future and a hope." God will fulfill His purpose for us (cf. Psalm 57:2; 138:8). "He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store," (cf. Job 23:14). God doesn't have to explain Himself to us and we aren't His judge, but we have to explain ourselves to Him and He is our judge. We are suffering to bear witness to the world, but we aren't saved through suffering; it's only an honor to suffer for His sake as we fill up the sufferings of Christ in the body. Actually, the blood of the saints was the seed of the church according to church father Tertullian, and martyr means witness--it was the suffering of the church that gave it such growth.
The problem of suffering is not answered definitively in Scripture; we must take God's Word that He means no harm, but our good and is wise enough to work it out. But then again, no religion adequately answers this question, of why there's evil in the world. Concerning Paul, who boasted of more suffering than any of the other apostles, and still thought himself unworthy, Jesus said, "For I will show him [Paul] how much he must suffer for the sake of my name" (Acts 9:16, ESV). We must not strive against God's will (kick against the goads) per Acts 26:14. Paul reluctantly mentioned what he had endured for the sake of the gospel in 2 Cor. 11 and the suffering was really a feather in his cap, to his credit. Even so, Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble, because he had suffered so much for the sake of the Name.
Affliction is inevitable: David says in Psalm 34:19, NLT, "The righteous person faces many troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time." "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God," (cf. Acts 14:22). In summation, it is to be noted that only in our faith is there meaning behind suffering--Eastern thought of karma just says you get what you deserve in life or the next time around, but doesn't offer a higher understanding. Karma is negated by the undeserved sufferings of our Lord, of Joseph, and of Job; note also Psalm 103:10, "He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve." Mercy is not getting what you deserve, and grace is getting what you don't deserve--only Christianity fully embraces in these doctrines.
In sum, "adversity, discipline, suffering, and trials inevitably happen to all Christians," but Christ was honest enough to warn us and doesn't expect anything of us that He didn't experience and didn't exempt Himself from suffering (He learned obedience through suffering, cf. Heb. 5:8)--in fact, our crosses pale in comparison! Remember: no cross, no crown! Soli Deo Gloria!
"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" (Phil. 1:29, ESV).
"[T]hat I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings..." (Phil. 3:10, ESV).
Paul rejoiced "that what has happened to [him] has really served to advance the gospel" (Phil. 1:12, ESV). If we have a meaning behind why we're suffering, we can endure it for Christ's sake. It serves a larger purpose than ourselves, God is turning evil into good and all of our trials, tribulations, tests, and sufferings are but to bring glory to God as we are vessels of honor in His sight. We must cling to the promise of Romans 8:28 that all things will work together for our good and God is too kind to be cruel, too wise to make a mistake, and too deep to explain Himself; even Job got no reason or explanation for his trial, only a revelation! Even when evil befalls us, God means it for good (cf. Gen. 50:20). It's not a matter of "Why?" but "Who?" It is a proven psychological fact that when people are given a "why" for their suffering, they can endure nearly any "how." This is focused on our attitude, to rejoice in the Lord always! When we see the big picture of God's providence, we can have the right attitude. Only we can choose our attitudes.
If we know God, we will trust Him through thick and thin, and when the chips are down our faith will be all the stronger. There is no kismet or blind fate of Islam, but we have a personal God who gives us a destiny. We aren't called to be stoics of depressing fatalism though and sing "Que sera, sera," "What will be, will be..." as Doris Day sang, nor to gladly let the chips fall where they may, but seek God's preceptive will through Scripture, knowing that His decreed, hidden will is none of our business (cf. Deut. 29:29 says, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God..."). Stoics are called the philosophers of the "stiff upper lip," because they just believe we have to grin and bear it, no matter what and just accept our fate--resignation or accepting the status quo is not faith. But Christianity is not determinism!
We have a destiny to participate in and God has plans for our good and to bless us in doing His work. (Jer. 29:11, ESV, says, "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, plans to give you a future and a hope." God will fulfill His purpose for us (cf. Psalm 57:2; 138:8). "He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store," (cf. Job 23:14). God doesn't have to explain Himself to us and we aren't His judge, but we have to explain ourselves to Him and He is our judge. We are suffering to bear witness to the world, but we aren't saved through suffering; it's only an honor to suffer for His sake as we fill up the sufferings of Christ in the body. Actually, the blood of the saints was the seed of the church according to church father Tertullian, and martyr means witness--it was the suffering of the church that gave it such growth.
The problem of suffering is not answered definitively in Scripture; we must take God's Word that He means no harm, but our good and is wise enough to work it out. But then again, no religion adequately answers this question, of why there's evil in the world. Concerning Paul, who boasted of more suffering than any of the other apostles, and still thought himself unworthy, Jesus said, "For I will show him [Paul] how much he must suffer for the sake of my name" (Acts 9:16, ESV). We must not strive against God's will (kick against the goads) per Acts 26:14. Paul reluctantly mentioned what he had endured for the sake of the gospel in 2 Cor. 11 and the suffering was really a feather in his cap, to his credit. Even so, Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble, because he had suffered so much for the sake of the Name.
Affliction is inevitable: David says in Psalm 34:19, NLT, "The righteous person faces many troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time." "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God," (cf. Acts 14:22). In summation, it is to be noted that only in our faith is there meaning behind suffering--Eastern thought of karma just says you get what you deserve in life or the next time around, but doesn't offer a higher understanding. Karma is negated by the undeserved sufferings of our Lord, of Joseph, and of Job; note also Psalm 103:10, "He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve." Mercy is not getting what you deserve, and grace is getting what you don't deserve--only Christianity fully embraces in these doctrines.
In sum, "adversity, discipline, suffering, and trials inevitably happen to all Christians," but Christ was honest enough to warn us and doesn't expect anything of us that He didn't experience and didn't exempt Himself from suffering (He learned obedience through suffering, cf. Heb. 5:8)--in fact, our crosses pale in comparison! Remember: no cross, no crown! Soli Deo Gloria!