Suffering is the missing word in the theology of most Charismatic Christians, most of us don’t want to hear about suffering we quote “many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) We like to believe He will deliver us before anything touches us or we quote Psalm 91, “none of these plagues shall come near our dwelling.”
I believe God wants to protect us and deliver us, but the Bible suggests suffering is part of the Christian life. I believe it is important to set our mind on positive things, and we need to take every evil and idle thought captive, not dwell on things that are inappropriate for the child of God. But also believe if you are serious about following Jesus, suffering is inevitable.
There are times in our Christian life when it gets tough, I know from personal experience, people try and cheer us up and point us to the life of the Apostle Paul. They say he followed God and in return for his trouble he was beaten, stoned shipwrecked, thrown in prison, everything and anything that could go wrong did go wrong.
It’s true Paul said he had “been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” II Cor 11:23-27
We like to think that if we are walking in God’s will it will be easy, Paul’s walk doesn’t stack up with that kind of thinking. When Paul met Jesus his life was turned upside down, He had an encounter with God and God chose to use him but it wasn’t going to happen without a cost. Jesus spoke to Ananias and said “But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Acts 9:15,16)
Jesus had plans for Paul to suffer for the sake for the Kingdom. Why? I believe it was designed to produce the character and nature of Christ in Paul, to break any residue of his religious pride and also to demonstrate and release the supernatural power of God. I want to consider a couple of the things Paul endured for the sake of Jesus.
In Acts 27 Paul was being taken to Rome, and a storm arose and everyone on board was facing shipwreck. (The Lord knows we have all felt like that at times, following God and facing shipwreck!) And in verses 22-26 Paul says to everyone “I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
Everything happened just like Paul said, they all got to shore safely. And I thought about this passage and thought yes, Paul was shipwrecked, but in the midst of it he had an Angel appear and comfort him! Quite a supernatural encounter! I’m not minimizing his suffering here, but he had the comfort of a supernatural encounter to sustain him through the suffering.
And I believe there is a link between what we suffer for Jesus sake and the supernatural. God loves to show up when we suffer for him. Like He showed up for the three Hebrew children in the firey furnace, He wants to show up for us, in the midst of the toughest trial.
Later on Paul was in prison and an angel showed up to set him free. Suffering for Jesus sake releases the miraculous. Revival breaks out as we suffer for Jesus. Miracles happen. Jesus said in Matthew 5:11: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Our attitude in suffering is to be different. If you are suffering because of Jesus, it is producing something not just in terms of heavenly rewards like Christ is saying but it is releasing something powerful. I like to think that as Christ suffered and died he was working towards something, he was working towards the mighty Holy Ghost explosive birth of the Church. All that suffering produced something. When we suffer and labor in the Lord it is never in vain.
If you are following God and feel like it’s shipwreck time, I want to encourage you, God has not finished with you yet. You may be suffering right now, but God is at work. Your obedience to God is loosing the supernatural for your circumstance.
God has promised you a destiny, I challenge you not to quit just because things are a little tough right now. I challenge you to rejoice, to continue to follow, trust and believe. You can rest in the fact that the supernatural power of God is being released and at work as you suffer for the sake of the Kingdom.
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