“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”
1 Peter 4:12-13.
To be sorrowful can only mean hopelessness and uncertainty about the future; whereas Christ has given us more than enough to prove that trials refine and do not cut short our lives. A believer’s idea of suffering differs from the way the world would paint it to be, and that’s because in suffering, we identify with Christ. Hence, rather than having bitterness in our experiences, we are filled with joyous expectations.
Particularly, when people have to deny us help because we are associated with the person of Christ; it is not dejection because one with God is a majority. Suffering doesn’t mean we are hated by God and are allowed to perish; it is instead God’s way of assuring His people that what we carry has more value than how it is perceived by the world.
Suffering clearly reminds us of being a sojourner here on earth, making us long for the world beyond, called home. Believers should embrace suffering, not merely as a state of insufficiency, but in the hope of glory that comes thereafter.
Charge: There’s joy in suffering for the sake of Christ.
Further Study: Matthew 5:11-12; Acts 5:41; Romans 5:3-5, 8:17-18; 2 Corinthians 1:5-6; Philippians 1:29.
