I have no idea what your life entails right now, but I can be reasonably sure that you’re facing a trial of some kind or another. Maybe in your marriage, maybe with your children, maybe with your studies, or maybe simply with the question of what to do with your life next… Some people have this crazy notion that becoming a Christian will remove all our troubles; but that’s just not so. On the contrary, it’s clear from the teaching of several Scriptures that afflictions are an expected and necessary part of our Christian pilgrimage.
In Philippians 1:29 Paul encourages the saints to stand firm for the Lord, reminding them that “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, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.” He thus connects believing in Christ with suffering for Christ, seeing them both as gifts granted to the church.
Also, in Romans 8:16-17 he makes the point that our being children of God by adoption establishes our co-heirship with Christ, but then goes on to say that our entrance upon the inheritance in glory is conditioned upon our suffering with Christ here, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 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.”
And when Paul and Barnabas took the gospel to Lystra in Acts 14:8-18, Jews from Antioch and Iconium followed him and persuaded the crowds to stone Paul. Knowing that such suffering was part and parcel, not only of his calling as an Apostle (cf. Acts 9:15-16), but of the Christian’s pilgrimage, he returned to Lystra “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (v.22).
Peter wrote his first epistle to those “elect exiles of the dispersion” (1 Peter 1:1) who were suffering for their faith in Christ and encouraged them to stand fast and trust the Lord, fixing their hope on God’s promise of ultimate deliverance upon Christ’s return (1:7). But notice what he says in 4:12-13, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”
So suffering is to be expected, not only as part of our human experience, but–more to the point–as part of our Christian pilgrimage heavenward. Whether a direct result of our faith and defense of the cause of Christ or borne in common with the fallen world in which we live, our suffering should not come as a surprise to us. However, because we’re heirs of God’s promises to care for us and sanctify us, our trials and afflictions have a sanctifying purpose within the grand scheme of God’s redemption of our souls. And that’s good news!
In other words, our afflictions are the special tools and instruments by which God, like a master carpenter, shapes and conforms us to Christ’s image (Rom. 8:28-29). They’re the means by which God brings to completion the good work He began in us (Phil. 1:6-7). They’re the occasions for our faith to give way to steadfastness and maturity (James 1:2-4). They’re the means by which God exposes our sin in order to lead us to repentance (Job 42:3b, 5-6) and tries us to reveal our hearts (Gen. 22:1, 12). And they’re the necessary goads sent to test the genuineness of our faith and prepare us for the return of Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7; Matt. 10:22b).
Not only, then, is it foolish for us to think we can avoid trial, difficulty, and affliction as Christians, but why would we want to!? If they serve such an important purpose within the plan of God’s redemption of us, then we can’t afford to live without them. Instead, we should be content to live with them. After all, is this not the conclusion at which the apostle arrived when once he realized how much his trials profited him? “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9b-10). ––Check back tomorrow for Part 3 and learn how God’s promises help us in our afflictions.
**This post is an excerpt from my book written with Joel Beeke, Living by God’s Promises.
