Serving Others through Suffering

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS ON SUFFERING

Many things take a lifetime of experience to truly learn.  This is one of them.
Some of us in the church have been involved in a kind of ministry no one desires.  It is called sharing in, or the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ.  It is called this for a specific reason.  Jesus Christ suffered in behalf of others.  Not one of His sufferings was because of or for Himself.  His sufferings were allowed by God to bring about the purposes He had for others.
Peter and Paul described this suffering as something in which we can share.  It is not the same suffering, but it has the same purpose.  It is for others.  As Jesus did, so do we experience this suffering in the flesh.  It is physical, but it involves the inner person, too.  The sufferer realizes that the sufferings experienced are not the same as those experienced by Jesus.  They are unique (not that others have not experienced the same or worse) to the sufferer.  But as with Paul and his sufferings, the sufferer must finally understand that God has allowed the sufferings for others.  

Some suffer for their faith and die – and we call them martyrs.  Others suffer in their bodies and live – and become martyrs.  The meaning of the word martyr is witness.  When a Christian suffers deeply or at length, that one suffers for others and through this witness to others the grace and strength that God provides.  God’s provision is not necessarily a miraculous healing of the body – though it could be.  Often, instead, it is the strengthening of the heart, mind, soul, and spirit of the sufferer by the Lord to testify, live, encourage, comfort, and strengthen the faith of others as they see the sufferer endure.  In every passage in which sharing of the sufferings of Christ is mentioned, there is a clear and helpful instruction as to what that ministry is for, what it looks like, or what it results in.

This perspective on suffering will transform your life and service.  Whether enduring a great loss, living with chronic pain, going through persecution, or living a faithful witness before others under terrible emotional or physical duress, your ministry to others will be that of showing the grace of God under fire to those around you (believers and unbelievers) for His glory.  

Perhaps this perspective will help us to entrust our souls to our faithful Creator, and to say, I will keep on rejoicing as I share in the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 4:13) ; when I am suffering when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10); as the sufferings of Christ are abundant, my comfort is also abundant in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:5); and, finally, the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).