Two of the causes of suffering, which were discussed in the last article and can be found in archives under suffering and under June 2008, are sin and living in a fallen world. An additional part of that fallen world is the spirit world. We are warned, that, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against…the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). In other words, the origin of some human activity is demonic.
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (2 Peter 5:8-9). Some of our sufferings come at the hand of demonic activity. It is not sin or fallen humanity, but evil spirits. However, we must pray and take an honest look at our lives to determine the source of the suffering. If it is the enemy, his goal is to tempt us away from the faith. For this reason, Paul said to the Thessalonians “I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain” (1 Thessalonians 3:5). Paul tells us how to deal with this kind of suffering in saying, “take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day” (Ephesians 6:13, see verses 14-18 for more on the armor of God).
Some of our suffering, ironically, is the result of our godliness. More fully, it is our godliness causing friction with an ungodly world. Paul warned, “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). It is pointed out that of some believers “after being enlightened…endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated” (Hebrews 10:32-33). We are not to pull back from a godly lifestyle in order to escape these sufferings. “But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39). If you do what is right, eventually you will suffer because of it (1 Peter 3:13-17, 4:1-2, 12-13). However, press on for the eventual results far outweigh the suffering.
Sometimes suffering comes directly as a result of being a Christian (1 Peter 4:14 and 16). Some people understand what being a Christian means and are aggressively against it. So if you reveal yourself to be a Christian, they will mistreat you out of their hatred. Part of this comes from being evangelistic. We are commanded to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15) and some are offended by hearing the gospel and seek to prevent it (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16). Realize that the gospel opposes what some believe and how some live. Part of the message of the gospel is that we are sinners in need of a savior. Understanding things like these, it is no surprise that people will get upset with you for sharing the gospel with them. Remember that after the disciples were physically beaten and told not to share the gospel “they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:40-42). Do not allow difficulty to keep you from being obedient to the Lord.
It is good to know that God will never allow us to suffer His wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11). In other words, our suffering will never come from God unless we sin. Whenever we suffer we should seek direction from God and other strong Christians. We need to try to determine the reason for the suffering in order to know how to respond to it. If we suffer for sinning, we should repent of the sin. If we suffer for living in a sinful world, we should long for Christ’s return. If we suffer at the hands of demonic activity, we should pray them away and rejoice that we must be doing something right. We should do the same if we suffer from being godly, sharing the gospel, or for just being a Christian. If you are suffering, hold on to Christ and keep in mind that there is a reason for the suffering. Those reasons we will discuss in the next article.
Friday, August 1, 2008
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