Paul most gladly welcomed suffering and took pleasure in affliction. Why? Paul stated in Phil. 3:10 "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death."
Paul knew that to know Christ intimately he must experience the bad (not in God's mind) with the good. In order to think like Christ he must be of the same mind. What is this mind? It is found in Phil. 2:5 as we find Jesus humbling Himself to take on the form of a servant and be made in the likeness of man and become obedient to death...suffering.
We often hear Romans 8:29 preached about how God's will is to conform us to the image of His son and we accept this without any real thought of what needs to happen. Part of the conforming is a great amount of suffering. After all, it is through suffering that Jesus won the greatest victory of all - salvation. It is through suffering that Jesus became the perfect example in how to respond to pain, affliction, and persecution (1 Peter 2:21). In Proverbs 17:3 "The fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts." This trying of the heart is putting the man under pressure...suffering...in order to purify the heart that he may be conformed to the image of Jesus. Paul's sole focus was to be like Christ and he knew that sufferings were a big part of getting there, therefore he welcomed them and took pleasure in them.
Paradoxical as it may seem there is great happiness and victory achieved through suffering! Suffering breaks down our pride and dependence on self; it incinerates our haughty ways and reduces us to mere emotional/physical weaklings dependent upon a great and powerful God. Your heavenly Father will never be closer to you than during the times of suffering. Then if that's not enough...
Romans 8:18 "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
2 Corinthians 4:17 "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;"God may hand out spoons full of suffering but he rewards in buckets full of glory!!
Lord, help us to stay faithful when suffering knowing that you are at work in our lives molding us and making us more like the Saviour...might we even someday, as Paul did, take pleasure in it.
You are a shining example of someone who handles trials and suffering with grace. You truly do remind me of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteVery good point. A tree allowed to grow wild gets out of hand. It is when the prunning and cutting takes place that it can produce more abundant fruit and take a beautiful shape.
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