Suffering Is Heavy, but not as Heavy as Glory
Let’s be careful not to super-spiritualize our suffering: it is hard. The pain is real. Suffering is not pleasant. We need to be real with ourselves and others about the pain of suffering. And yet, we have this great hope that our suffering is temporary—even if it lasts until we draw our last breath in this life. Our hope is that our suffering—all of it—will indeed end at least when we step foot into eternity. This is the truth that Paul draws our attention to in Romans:For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. — Romans 8:18 (CSB)
And again in 2 Corinthians:For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. — 2 Corinthians 4:17 (CSB)
The reality is not the lightness of our present sufferings, but rather the weightiness of the glory that awaits us! That glory makes the pain of today—the very real pain—manageable. Our grimaces today are done in anxious anticipation of our greater sighs of tomorrow.Suffering Produces Humility
Pride is antithetical to the gospel. And yet, pride is what many of us struggle with. And our culture only fuels its destructive fires. We are so prone to pursue our own pleasures, comfort, and glory. At times at the expense of all others, including Holy God. And it is for this reason, God, in His loving mercy, brings suffering into our lives. Suffering is a powerful tool He uses to hammer humility deep into our hearts. It is through suffering that we are forced to face our inability to control our destiny. We might think we can, but suffering reminds us that we cannot. This is what the psalmist had in mind:One who is righteous has many adversities, but the Lord rescues him from them all. — Psalms 34:19 (CSB)
Notice that the righteous does not rescue himself. Nor can he find rescue from any other person. Rescue—true rescue—is found only in the Lord. When we are able to see this—which is often a fruit of suffering—we are drive to where we need to be: a posture of humility before our Lord.Suffering Strengthens our Faith
Humility is not all suffering produces—at least that is not all it is intended to produce. God’s plan is for suffering to grow us in our faith. Consider Paul’s words in Romans:And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. — Romans 5:3-5 (CSB)
And Peter’s words in his first epistle:You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith — more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. — 1 Peter 1:6-7 (CSB)
Notice that suffering, or affliction, is the first link in a glorious chain designed to grow us. Paul leads us to see how the experiences of suffering lead us to endurance, which in turn grows our character and leads ultimately to hope—hope not in who we are, but who Christ has made us. Peter echoes this thinking, with a slightly different vocabulary. Suffering in trails leads to the proven character of our faith. The beautiful truth is that for the believer, the humility suffering produces does not leave us void. In Christ, we are able to see that which we cannot do—stop our suffering—God has promised to do through Christ when He returns. And in these moments, when this beautiful promise is crystalized in our minds and hearts, our faith and our hope grow.Suffering Positions Us to Comfort One Another
Many times, we will turn inward in our suffering. This response to the adversity we are facing is understandable, but it is contrary to God’s plan. Ultimately, our suffering is to lift our gaze off of ourselves, onto God and onto our fellow believers. It is this last part which is often neglected. God has given us a great gift in the church and He desires for us to love and serve one another, including through our suffering. Here is what Paul had to say about this in his letter to the Galatians:Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. — Galatians 6:2 (CSB)
And again to the church in Corinth:Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort. — 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (CSB)
Our calling as a people of faith—as the family of God—is to walk alongside one another, even and especially in times of affliction. And one of the ways we can do this the best is by drawing from our own experiences of suffering to bring comfort to another. What have we learned in our suffering that we can share to encourage someone else? How have we seen God’s kindness in our times of suffering? What truths did God bring to bear for us when we last suffered? When we walk together, arms locked, through adversity, we display the unity for which Christ prayed in John 17.Suffering Draws Us to Christ
If we only had one reason to share of why suffering can be beautiful, this would be the one: suffering draws us to Christ. This is why Paul desired suffering:My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. — Philippians 3:10-11 (CSB)
Notice that Paul fuses the resurrection and suffering together. If we want to know the glory of the former, we must also seek to know the beauty of the latter. They cannot be parsed. We cannot have one without the other. Our suffering reminds us of the suffering Christ endured on our behalf so that He would be the sacrifice for our sin and then experience resurrection. As we suffer, our minds and hearts are to be drawn to this truth.Suffering Positions Us to Display Christ to an Unbelieving world
The final reason on this list, which, again, is not exhaustive, is that our suffering is a powerful evangelistic tool. Once again, we turn to Paul:Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church. — Colossians 1:24 (CSB)
Now, let’s be clear: Paul was not in any way suggesting that Christ’s substitutionary atonement was insufficient. It was indeed complete. What Paul has in mind here is the working out to the fullest end of Christ’s completed work on the cross—namely evangelism. What is lacking—from our perspective—is more coming to Christ and experiencing the forgiveness His perfect life, death, and resurrection provides. This is where we fit into the equation—we are God’s chosen mechanism for declaring the gospel to the world. And as we do so, others will come to trust in Christ and experience the forgiveness made available by Christ’s suffering. Thus, as we suffer to advance the gospel, we continue and complete what Christ began in His. Beautiful, isn’t it? So much so that Paul said it more than once:We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. — 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (CSB)
I know this has been a deeper dive than normal in these blog posts, but I hope that this brief doctrine of suffering proves helpful for you. The best teaching comes from the overflow of what God is teaching us, so I hope that God’s Word and what He has revealed about suffering fills you to the point of overflowing as you teach your preschoolers and kids this week!O brothers, some of us could willingly enough go to serve the Lord in activity, but to go and serve Him in suffering—we halt, we hesitate, we deliberate. But not so with the Savior. His sufferings were to be infinitely greater than any that can fall to our lot. — Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) [1]Preschool Tip: One of the goals of The Gospel Project is to help preschoolers see that the Bible is one story and not to study passages in isolation. This is a week when that is especially important. To see the power of this session, you will need to remind your preschoolers of the suffering that Joseph endured, what we have covered int he last two sessions. Be sure to allot time to review the overarching story of Joseph to help your preschoolers remember the important details. Kids Tip: Joseph’s statement in Genesis 50 is a clear and powerful picture of Jesus. God used Joseph’s suffering to provide rescue for his family. In a greater way, God used Jesus’ suffering to provide rescue for those who trust in Him. Be sure your kids see this amazing picture this week. [1] Charles H. Spurgeon, Able to the Uttermost: Twenty Gospel Sermons (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 231–32.
Samantha A. says
This blog is so good! Thank you for sharing the “doctrine of suffering” as you call it. We all need to hear this and let it sink in. Our suffering is beautiful. It’s hard to say but you point out how clear scripture is about it. I am praying I can clearly convey this to my kids (and adult leaders) in a way they will understand.