The Bible makes it clear that suffering is a part of the normal Christian life.
In Romans 8:17, for
example, Paul says that Christians are ‘heirs of God and fellow heirs with
Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with
him’ (ESV).
Similarly, in 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul states that ‘all
who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted’ (ESV).
Or again, in Hebrews 12:7 the author says, ‘It is
for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what
son is there whom his father does not discipline?’ And then in v. 11 he adds, ‘For the moment all discipline seems painful rather
than pleasant’ (ESV).
There are also many other passages that teach along
the same lines. Basically, there is no doubt that suffering is a normal part of
Christian experience.
Times of great
suffering
Most sufferings we
experience are relatively low-level. These are minor problems of all sorts that
we have to face on a daily basis, that cause us no more than a small amount of
distress. We can expect to experience these almost constantly for the duration
of our lives.
But I would suggest
that it is also normal for Christians to experience times of great distress now
and then. To have times like these often is fairly unusual but never to have such
times is also unusual.
Many of the Psalms,
for example, were written by David and others, when they were suffering really
badly (e.g., Psalms 6, 38, 42, 77). And the New Testament tells us that the Old
Testament was written for the instruction of Christians (Rom 15:4). There is no
good reason for thinking that it is normal for Christians to go through their
entire lives avoiding times of deep distress such as we read about in the
Psalms.
So if we are devout
followers of Jesus – as, of course, we should be – then there will probably be
some times of intense suffering in our lives.
If we understand
this, we will be in a much better place to face these times when they occur.
Christians who
go to pieces in times of bad weather
We could compare seasons
of life to different kinds of weather.
Good weather, or fair
weather, is when life is not that difficult, when there are only minor
sufferings to be dealt with. Bad weather is when the big sufferings hit.
It is not uncommon to
find Christians who do very well in times of fair weather but who go to pieces when
the weather turns bad.
In fair-weather times
they are models of Christian discipleship, devoting themselves to prayer,
Scripture, using their talents, sharing the faith, helping people, etc., etc. They
cope reasonably well with the minor problems and sufferings that Christians
experience in times of fair weather.
But when the big hits
come, the agonies, that’s when their discipleship collapses. Instead of letting
their sufferings drive them to God for help in their dire straits, they run
away from Him.
These are the people
represented by the seed sown on rocky ground in the parable of the different
kinds of ground:
‘And
others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately
they receive it with joy. But they have no root; they are short-lived. When
distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.’
(Mark 4:16-17; CSB)
When the bad weather comes, we need to run
towards God
When the weather
turns bad and we are in deep distress, for whatever reason, that is the time
not to run away from God but to run to Him. He is able and willing to help us,
and He will surely do so. I have been able to testify to this myself on many
occasions.
Life without God is totally
meaningless and hopeless anyway. A godless life is a tragic, empty thing. Running
away from God is only going to make things worse for us.
Besides, we each have
a need to be rescued from God’s eternal punishment, and only those who endure
to the end will be finally saved (Mark 13:13). So quite apart from the fact
that life here and now without God will not go well for us, life after death
will go infinitely worse if we walk away from Him.
In John 6:66-69 we
read about a time when many of Jesus’s followers stopped following Him, and He
asked the Twelve if they wanted to do the same. On this occasion Peter gave an
excellent reply:
‘Lord, to whom will
we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know
that You are the Holy One of God.’ (CSB).
All our hopes need to
be in God and in reaching fullness of joy in His presence after we die.
Warning new
Christians
When people first
become Christians, they often have quite an easy time of things to begin with. This
doesn’t always happen, but fairly often it does. New Christians can therefore
sometimes start to think that the absence of deep suffering is what they can
expect for the rest of their lives.
I would suggest that
it is helpful for new Christians to be warned that it is normal for believers
to experience times of deep distress now and again. If they aren’t told this,
they can be devastated when these times arise.
Let’s be
determined to keep going
Let us all, then, be
clear-eyed about the nature of Christian discipleship. It is normal for
followers of Jesus to experience seasons of great suffering now and then. It is
normal for the weather to turn bad from time to time.
When this happens,
let’s be determined to keep going on the narrow path, following the Lord,
regardless of what we face.
See also:
Some Things for Christians to Do When They Are Hanging
On by Their Fingernails
Charismatic Churches and Their Attitude to Hardship
What to Do If You Feel Like Blaming God for Something
Taking Heart from the Apostle Paul’s Experiences of
Setbacks and Failed Plans
