Joyful Suffering

 "If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name."

— 1 Peter 4:14-16

Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King,

In Matthew 5:11-12, You made it clear that when people insult me, persecute me, and falsely say all kinds of evil against me because of You, that I am blessed and that I should rejoice and be glad because great is my reward in Heaven. Peter says that when I am insulted because of the name of Christ, the Holy Spirit rests on me. That's incredibly comforting. The Shekinah glory of God settles upon me in the midst of righteous suffering for You.

But if I suffer, it shouldn't be due to my own bad choices or unrighteous living. If I suffer because of my own sin, there's no glory in that. Murder, theft, evildoing—those are unrighteous acts and they bring about suffering of my own making. Even as a a busybody who gets up in other people's business will bring about avoidable suffering. No glory in that. But if I suffer as a Christian, one who follows You, I am not to be ashamed. Instead, I am to praise God, not for the suffering, but to praise God in the suffering. I praise God because I bear the name of Jesus and I am following Him even in His suffering.

Lord Jesus, help me to avoid unnecessary suffering that's due to my own poor choices and due to my sin. There's no glory in that. Help me rejoice in You when I suffer for Your Name. When I encounter insults, accusations, and lies about me because I am following You, remind me that the presence of Your Holy Spirit rests on me in those moments. I need not be ashamed. I can choose to praise God that I bear Your Name!

— In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Retaliation

 "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." — 1 Peter 2:21-23 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Thank you for leaving me an example of how to respond when I am verbally chastised, insulted, and torn down. You did not retaliate. No deceit was found in Your mouth. When You suffered, You made no threats. Instead You entrusted Yourself to the Father who judges Your accusers justly. Yesterday, a respected young man named Charlie Kirk, 31, who stood for righteousness and civil discourse was assassinated while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Charlie Kirk has consistently been one of the calmest and most polite among us. He listened to questions from his o...
Read more

Nothing Wasted

 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” — John 6:12 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, I am really thankful you said these words. If God is a God who doesn't waste things, then I can be confident He doesn't waste my pain. He doesn't waste my moments of failure. He doesn't waste my heartbreak. He doesn't waste my tears. "Let nothing be wasted" means that God doesn't disregard me and won't waste my life. Gather the pieces that are left over.  On days when I feel like there are a lot of broken pieces of me, I am deeply comforted to know that God doesn't sweep away my broken pieces into the trash can and move on. Jesus, you said "Gather the pieces that left over." Would you gather me up into Your hands today? Would you take the broken pieces of me and hold them carefully in Your hands and remind me they aren't going to be left on the ground...
Read more

Suffering

 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. — Romans 5:3-4 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, We glory in our sufferings. The word Paul uses here means to "glory in a thing", "to boast", "to rejoice." He's contrasting his previous thought that we boast or rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We rejoice in our hope of God and  we rejoice in our sufferings. The picture forming in my mind is lifting hands, shouting with joy, as I rejoice in God and then doing the same thing in the midst of my suffering. Yeah. I don't do that. I don't rejoice when suffering comes. I do the opposite. I complain. I sulk. I moan. I am irritated. I am angry. I am resentful. But do I rejoice? No. Yet this is the very thing Paul says we are to do. And it's because of the incredible fruitfulness our suffering brings. Suffering produces perseverance....
Read more