Encouragement in the Midst of Suffering (Part 2)

As I studied, 1 Peter 4:12-19, I found 8 encouragements about suffering for Christ’s sake. This blog post picks up where I left off in the previous post which you can read here. Today I will examine 4 more encouragements.

Encouragement #3: God Designs Suffering for Our Testing — v. 12

From God’s perspective our suffering is “the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing.” If we could, we would probably all ask God not to bring us trials. We don’t want them. We don’t like them. However, God knows we need them. God designs our suffering to refine our character. Trials are compared to the benefits of fire. Fire does not just burn, it purifies. When gold passes through the fire it burns off the worthless dross. Gold that goes through the fire gets tested. It comes out on the other side purer!! Back in 1:6, 7 Peter wrote, “The proof of your faith, (is) more precious than gold which is perishable. So, suffering is not bad luck! There is divine design to it.

Since we know these kinds of trials are necessary, we can have joy when we face them. James 1:2-4 teaches, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.” Not all suffering is God’s chastisement due to sin. But all of it is God’s completion of our character. God is always working to conform us into the image of His Son. He uses trials to accomplish that vital work. In time the pain will pass but the goodly character will remain.

Have you read the book of Job recently? Do you remember how depressed Job got in the midst of his great sufferings? I got the lowest I have been in my life in my suffering. But like Job, I realized God will refine me. As Job declared in Job 23:10 in the midst of his trials, "When (God) has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Suffering squeezes out residual pride, self-sufficiency, grumbling, and lusts. And trust me, we all have more of those evils inside us than we would like to admit.

Here is something to remember: Suffering speeds up sanctification. Anybody can bless God when they are rich, popular, and comfortable, but they will not be far along the path of sanctification. Believers who continue to praise God through the suffering express more maturity and bring even more glory to God. Remember Job’s words, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord!”

Encouragement #4: Suffering Causes us to Rejoice even More at Christ’s Coming — v. 13

The transition word “but” at the beginning of v. 13 tells us, that instead of being shocked or surprised by persecution – rejoice! Bewilderment is not the proper response to suffering! Genuine Joy is! You may exclaim, “That sounds crazy!” No, it’s active faith in God’s sovereign plan for you and for the world. Your faith must understand that God is moving everything in life toward the visible reign of His Son Jesus. That coming day when Christ is revealed in the clouds with great glory is a day every Christian must be riveted upon if he wants to live mightily for the Lord today. To put it in Peter’s own words in 1:13, “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” That is going to be an incredible day of joy and triumph for all believers!

Here Peter writes, “to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ keep on rejoicing.” Jesus suffered a lot. Now when you suffer in this world, you are experiencing similar pain, and you learn to love Christ more deeply. You understand His love for you better because now you know what it feels like to suffer. When you realize He did it willingly for you, and His sufferings were far greater, that makes you love Him so much more. Your suffering draws you into fellowship with Jesus the Suffering Servant of God.

Just keep thinking about the glorious future when every tear is wiped away from your eyes. It will be a great joy. I got asked recently, “What will it be like to be in Heaven when we die before our bodies are raised? The short answer is — Paradise, Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4. There is total joy in God’s presence, Acts 2:28. Romans 8:18 reveals, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” However bad it is here and now, it is so good for the believer when he dies, that there is no comparison.

If that is where your hope is focused, present problems only make you yearn for that day to come quickly. What’s the last prayer of the Bible? Do you remember? Revelation 22:20 “Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus.” In other words, deliver us from this world of suffering and pain, and transform it into glory and joy. And the Christians who will rejoice the most on that day are the Christians who have suffered the most in this life.

Encouragement #5: Suffering for Christ is a Blessing not a Curse — v. 14

These kind, wonderful, first century Christians were being reviled. That’s totally unfair. In America the best citizens are Christians, yet they are unfairly treated. But when you are unfairly treated for the Lord, you are blessed by God. It’s a badge of honor in God’s kingdom. So, don’t hang your head in self-pity.

Even now your blessing is this, “The Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” The powerful, resourceful Holy Spirit rests on you, Christian! He comforts you! He fills your life with gladness! He bears you along with His power!

The Holy Spirit has been ministering in my life in sustained ways I have never experienced before. He has filled my heart with confidence and with full assurance God is working in an amazing way among us. He has filled me with so much energy for His church and gospel. It is amazing that suffering and Spirit-filling go hand-in-hand. That seems counterintuitive. Here is something else you can remember: Suffering safeguards sanctification. Psalm 119:67 teaches this, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep Your word. Charles Spurgeon comments about this in his sermon, “What Weak Creatures We Are.” “Often our trials act as a thorn-hedge to keep us in the good pasture; but our prosperity is a gap through which we go astray.” Indeed, God brings suffering to speed up and safeguard our sanctification.

Encouragement #6: Suffering as a Christian Glorifies God — v. 15, 16

If I may paraphrase, the verse instructs us, “Don’t suffer as one who does wrong like a criminal or a juvenile delinquent. Better if you are going to suffer let it be because you are a Christian. When you suffer don’t feel ashamed, but use that name to glorify God.” Some people when they suffer doubt their salvation or doubt God’s mercy and love. “If God were merciful and mighty, why isn’t He helping me?” we wonder. But God reassures you, “You are mine. And when you do the right thing and suffer, you glorify me.”

When you can say “Thank you” to God even when the Lord brings you through some terrible jolt to your life, like losing a job, your house burns down, an infant dies, or friends turn on you, not only is your faith more mature, but it is also an opportunity to please God more than at any time in your life.

Don’t be ashamed of your suffering for Christ. You follow the one with the greatest name in the universe. At the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus is Lord, Philippians 2:9-11. As I go through my suffering and treatments, the one thing I want the most is for God to get the glory. Right now, I am weaker than I have ever been. I can’t run around serving the Lord like I used to. At times, it seems like I’m doing nothing! Yet God makes my family, church, and even my own soul to flourish. I want people to see the work of God and give Him the glory!