reflection by David T.
This past November, my friend Larry, who continues to suffer after his near-death experience of COVID, spoke about suffering poorly. I found him compelling, and I’ve mentioned him before. He listed various symptoms of suffering poorly and noted that many of us learn young to run. From our childhood we’ve been told to live carefully, minimize risks, and avoid harm. We run from danger, not to it. And when it looms large, we do everything possible to minimize or escape it. Additionally, pain and suffering can draw us into blaming, complaining, and bitterness, as well as self-medication and self-absorption. In a word we suffer poorly.
It doesn’t have to be so.
Indeed, Christians have every reason and resource to suffer well. It’s easy to fixate on the question “Why?” but the question itself turns out to be a dead end. There is rarely a definitive answer, and even when we find an answer it rarely soothes or satisfies us. The source of Christian courage is not found in answers but in choices.
Christians have every reason and resource to suffer well.
Over the centuries, Christians who have suffered well have made the following choices, over and over again:
Embrace it.
Believe in the presence of God in it.
Trust the sovereignty of God through it.
Practice courage during it.
Learn gratitude despite it.
Look to Christ beyond it.
In John 6, some of Jesus’ disciples had found the going just a little too tough. They were turning away and Jesus asked those who remained, “What about you?” Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)
Friends, where do we go when hardship and heartache strike? To whom shall we go? Our life legacy might be determined not by how much we achieve, succeed, or bequeath, but by how well we suffer.
Tim Keller noted: “The early Christians took their suffering with great poise and peace and sang hymns as the beasts were tearing them apart and they forgave the people who were killing them. And so the more they were killed, the more the Christian movement grew. Why? Because when people watched Christians dying like that, they said, ‘These people have got something.’” (Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, p.314).
…Someone standing in the fire with them.
What they had was Someone standing in the fire with them. What they had was a commitment to share in the sufferings of Christ with courage and conviction. What they had was a Savior who modeled how to carry and embrace a cross. What they had was an unquenchable hope for eternity. And they suffered well.
To suffer well is not a moral obligation, but because of Christ it becomes a real possibility. As you navigate the journey this week, what choices will you make?
[this reflection is part of a longer piece published on March 18 at David’s blog, Because of Grace]
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