Suffering: the Uninvited Guest

Suffering is always an unwelcome stranger and an uninvited guest.  When she visits the door of our lives, we want her stay to be short.  Yet, often we do not have control over when she will come and and when she will go. In I Peter 4:12 we read, "do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you."  Peter is trying to help us understand something,  suffering is a "normal" part of everyone's lives, especially the believer in Christ.

I remember during my first year serving in Asia when I was stricken with hepatitis, dengue fever and multiple bouts of dysentery.  There were times on my bed when I questioned the goodness of God and why He was allowing me to pass through the "valley of the shadow of death."  (Psalm 23:4)    Of course the Scripture in many places tells us that God allows suffering in our lives "to test" us,  which also can be translated to refine us and change us into the image of Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:28-29)

Peter encourages us a few verses later in vs. 14, "Rejoice insofar as you share in Christ's sufferings!"  Here we are reminded that our joy in the midst of suffering comes when we look to Christ and remind ourselves that if it is persecution, it is for His glory!  If it is another kind of suffering, God can use it to form us into the person He wants us to be. (James 1:3)

Isn't it good to know that whatever we are going through we have such a powerful good God that He can take the broken pieces of our lives and weave them into something beautiful.  The world doesn't have that hope.  The world can only seek relief in the face of suffering, chasing that ever elusive goal of comfort, pleasure and security, which the Bible tells us will always be imperfect on this side of heaven.

As you journey through life and that unwelcome guest of suffering comes pounding on your door, look to Jesus and be reminded that "he will never leave you or forsake you." (Deut 31:6)  Look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.  And as Peter reminds us, "Let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good."  (I Peter 4:19)