Suffering From a Christian Perspective

Scripture tells us in James:1:2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
See All... “Count it all joy my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds.” James doesn’t say if he says when we face trials of various kinds. Suffering is certain in the Christian life, not just missionary life. We are reminded that we are separated from God, and there will be many trials on this side of heaven. I am encouraged that so many saints of old like John Bunyan, Samuel Rutherford, and Thomas Watson saw the Christian life not through rose-colored glasses, but for what it is. A long, often painful, road that is only made possible if we are sustained on our journey by the grace of our God.

Not only will there be trials, but because we have Christ, we can count those trials as joy. We know our God is sovereign and this is a part of His plan for making us more like Christ and reconciling the world to himself. James says trials will come in various kinds, meaning they may look like giant obstacles or 1,000 paper cuts adding up to a hard life. In either of the two or anything in between there is purpose and plan. If we read further, verses three and four are reminders of the purpose. “For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” The testing of our faith produces steadfastness. Steadfastness makes us more like Christ, he is the only one perfect and complete, and through the testing of our faith and trials of many kinds we will become more and more like Christ, only by God’s grace. We believers can rest assured that suffering is a normative part of the Christian life, and it is God’s sovereign will that we can find our joy even in times of suffering.

The sweetness though of suffering is in the way the Lord uses it to further his purposes. God uses the suffering of believers to advance his name. In the book of Acts, we see the early church multiplying as the church is persecuted. In Philippians:3:10That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
See All..., Paul says, “That I may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Again, in Romans:8:17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
See All..., Paul says, “And if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ – provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” What a hope we have in Christ, that as we share in His sufferings, we will also be glorified with him one day in eternity. We, as believers, can know that as we suffer here on Earth we can cling to the truth God left us in His word. We, as believers, can know that as we suffer we can remember Christ’s finished work on the cross. We, as believers, can know that as we suffer God will use our sufferings to reconcile some from every tongue, tribe, and nation back to himself.

—Anonymous (Name withheld due to service in a “sensitive” region).