(3) Strength in Suffering Series
The heart is easy to manipulate if it has not been trained to see things from God’s perspective; and it is very easy to lose His perspective when we are not listening to His voice. We take to heart advice by our own spiritual and physical siblings that, in reality, isn’t helpful or healing. It’s not God speaking, and we can know that when we go to the Bible to hear what He really says. Some things Christians like to say that aren’t coming from God are statements like, “And Sister So-and-so never complained.” God doesn’t have Luke tell his account of Paul and Silas in the prison with the words, “And they never complained.” We don’t know everything that happens in the hours of suffering. That’s between the sufferer and God. Yet, in the throes of pain and torment, we know Satan uses that situation to come and tempt us. That’s when it’s hardest to keep focused on the good things. Instead, we tend to focus on all the bad things, and, Christian sister, we have a bad habit of piling up guilt to beat ourselves down with when we’re already low and suffering.
“Don’t be negative.”
“God says not to be a complainer.”
“Nobody wants to hear your problems… again.”
“Act like a good Christian.”
“You’re being a big baby; people have been through much worse.”
Each of these is a guilt trip that God never put on His people. Each of the sayings listed above is a lie Satan is using to manipulate you. How can we be assured they are lies? We have a record of what a Christian brother really feels toward his siblings in Christ, and Paul’s words deny every single one of those false sayings.
“3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.” – Philippians 1:3-7
Paul says his thoughts of the Christians at Philippi are always coupled with thanksgiving to God. If Paul is thankful to God that these Christians exist, then there are Christians—the world over— who are thanking God you exist, including me! When you consider the brothers and sisters in your life, aren’t you thankful for them? Sometimes we forget that just the knowledge of another soul and their struggle to stay close to God is encouraging. Just your existence, your presence, is an encouragement. How opposite is this to thinking you are negative? Your very existence in Christ is positive and an encouragement. Blaming yourself for affecting others with negativity is one of Satan’s lies. It’s not you; it’s the Adversary at work. There is a negative presence that pervades our world in consequence of sin. Satan is spreading the negativity. He spreads all things wrong, and God spreads all things right. Your choice to become a Christian means you choose, daily, to let God spread right. Sadly, you are living in a world that is saturated in Satan’s negativity. You only have power over your own actions, not over how others judge your actions to be. So, instead of falling prey to Satan’s words that you are being negative, decide you are positive. Because, regardless of the mistakes you make, you are on the Lord’s side, and that is always your place… the most positive place a person can be.
Does God tell you not to be a complainer? When you are hurting and you express your wish that you didn’t have to suffer this way, you are doing what Job did (Job 7:11; Job 10:1). You are doing what the Psalmist did when he said, “Attend to me, and hear me; I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily…” (Psalm 55:2). God allows you to hurt and voice that you are hurting. When Jesus asked the cup of suffering to pass from Him, was He complaining? He never sinned, so his cry to be free from the suffering that was to come was not wrong. Jesus was faithful, and you, in your cry to be free of suffering, are faithful, too. Philippians 2:14 speaks of “murmurings,” and this is mistakenly made synonymous with complaining. To murmur has the meaning of going against God and disagreeing with Him in secret. That is rebelliousness, and that is not the same as being weary of suffering. The people at Philippi were suffering, too. Paul tells them he was making requests to God for them. He knew they needed help. He wanted them to have grace and peace, not trials and hardships. Yet, their struggles to endure encouraged Paul, as well. He was not alone in his stand for the Faith. Paul tells them it’s that fellowship in the gospel with them that he was praying to God about. He prayed to God with joy that his brothers and sisters in Philippi were standing for the truth, too. Hardships in the faith bind us together in ways that we cannot share with nonbelievers. Writing to his fellow-sufferers from prison, Paul didn’t know what his future was. He didn’t know what the Philippian Christians’ futures would be, but he confidently told them that God was working with them and growing them until the last day.
Do you believe no one wants to hear your problems? This is Satan’s way of isolating you and keeping you weak and disconnected. You cannot renew and refresh that close relationship with your brothers and sisters in Christ if you don’t tell them what’s going on with you. Expressing those lows when they are happening may not feel like it’s benefiting anyone, but it really does strengthen one’s faith. We are told to confess our faults to each other; talking about our troubles is a natural part of that communication. It’s a practice we should embrace because going through the hard times is the path to true spiritual growth. Further, did you know that bottling up one’s “issues” tends to keep you from talking to God? It takes you out of the habit of talking the problems out. If you lose the ability to look a loved one in the eye and express what you’re going through, then it can be much harder to hold a heartfelt conversation in the presence of the Father.
When a thought like “act like a good Christian” comes into your head, Satan is working to make you doubt your goal of heaven. All Christians are good. Struggles for Christians come from fighting against Satan, whether it’s apparent to us what we are struggling against yet or not. So, be honest that you are struggling and that you have made some whopper mistakes. Change what you know to change and carry on in full confidence that your home is heaven. God is going to see you through this up to the last day, when Jesus returns and takes you home. Is it right for us to expect God will walk with us for the rest of our days? Paul expected it for the Philippian Christians. Paul said it was right for him to think like that (read verses 6 and 7 again). If this is the frame of mind Paul works in—that a Christian who is sharing in the fellowship of Christ and the suffering of Christ is bound for heaven—then it is right for us to think like that, too. And if it is right to think that way, then it is destructive to allow the thought that you’re not acting like a good Christian to find any purchase in your mind. You’re God’s good child.
Lastly, Paul tells them, “I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.” When you compare your situation to what others have gone through and think you’re just being a baby, you’re missing out on the big blessing. Paul explains that even though the Christians at Philippi weren’t sitting in his prison with him, they were there. They were being partakers in his work, in his suffering, and in that grace—they were help to Paul from God. The Philippian Christians were part of God’s spread of the gospel, just like the Apostle Paul was. Paul says we share in hardships and blessings together. This is not a comparison. Your suffering may be your own peculiar brand, but it is part of what the whole family of Christ goes through. Should you happen to be blessed with someone who understands a fraction of what you’re suffering, praise God and be comforted. But know that everyone’s suffering is different. We react differently, and we integrate our trials into our individual life experiences in different ways. Someone’s story is not meant to be a standalone beacon of holiness, nor is your story. Each Christian’s burdens are part of the burden of the Church as it tries to fight against evil and death in the world. You are one soldier, and you’re you for a reason. You are the person God created with all your weaknesses and your strengths to handle what God deems right for you to handle. That’s enough for God, so can you let that be enough for you?
In the next post, we’ll study suffering while in God’s presence.
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