The Point of Suffering

"After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." 1 Peter 5.10

Suffering is an unavoidable part of life, but since God is the source of grace, HE uses suffering to bring about His plan for our lives. The point of suffering is to make us more like Jesus, allowing us to partake in the eternal glory of God.

Romans 8.14-17 says, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him."

When we trust in God, we are adopted as His children and led by His Spirit. The Spirit leads us into Christlikeness, but in order to become like Christ we must face suffering.

When each of my girls was dedicated I shared a verse that I had selected for them, a verse that I want them to live by. The verse is the same for both of them. Proverbs 3.5-8 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body
and refreshment to your bones."

Trusting in God is the only way to face suffering. The verse says that acknowledging Him in everything will result in straight paths. It doesn't say flat, it doesn't say sunny, it doesn't say smooth or easy, it says straight. The Spirit will lead us up mountains and into valleys, through sunny fields of wild flowers and into dark forests, but the path doesn't curve at all, it leads straight to the Christ. Trusting in God brings us to Christ, and it is in suffering that we learn to trust Him more.

The point of suffering is to teach us that God is faithful and trustworthy. He has called us to His eternal glory in Christ, and that can only be fully attained by enduring suffering. We are heirs with Christ; whatever Christ inherited we also will inherit. Christ suffered, and so as coheirs with Christ we will suffer. However, Christ's suffering resulted in His glorification.

"Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2.8-11.

Christ suffered, and as a result Christ was glorified. As coheirs with Christ we will suffer, because Christ did, but like Christ, our suffering will result in sharing in the glory of Christ.

Suffering has a point, to make us more like Jesus.


Fight the lion, 1 Peter 5.1-11

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!