suffering

against all odds

Posted on by Grace Day

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Are you kidding me? The apostle Paul wrote these words to the believers in Corinth. I wonder if any of the Corinthians took issue with the words “light” and “momentary” as descriptors of the painful trials they were most certainly experiencing as believers in their current culture and as human beings living in this fallen world. Speaking personally, I would use words like “crushing” and “endless” to describe the “troubles” that are an inevitable presence in my daily life. There is nothing “light” nor “momentary” about the trials that come to each of us through physical suffering, the loss of those we love, unrealized hopes and dreams, the hardships and challenges of living in a world where evil appears to be having its way – the list is endless. Some days there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight to all the suffering and pain of my own and of others who I know and love – it definitely doesn’t seem “momentary” however – Jesus told His disciples this –

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Those words give me encouragement and hope, allowing me to keep going when things are too hard. When there is no end in sight, it is then I take to heart these words –

“We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

If I depend only on what I can see, I will surely give up. My view is limited and I can’t see everything. but if I’m walking by faith I have this assurance –

“For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

My troubles (which I can see and am currently experiencing) don’t seem temporary or momentary to me but God says what I can’t yet see is real and is eternal and is waiting for me. Peter talks about this hope and inheritance God has promised to me, saying –

“In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)

My “momentary” trials aren’t over yet. Job didn’t see an end in sight for his trials. But Job, like Peter, put his hope not in his current circumstances, (which were definitely dire) but in what he couldn’t yet see but believed was coming because he trusted God. That’s why Job could say these words even in the middle of his intense suffering –

“But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)

When there’s no end in sight and no way out of life’s pain and suffering, I don’t have to give up. Like Job, I choose to place my hope in the unseen, I choose to place my hope in the eternal. I choose to place my hope in the invisible, immortal, all knowing, all wise God rather than in anything or anyone else. Situations and circumstances may appear hopeless to me and in human terms they are hopeless – BUT –

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ ” (Matthew 19:26)

With God, Daniel was delivered from the lion’s den, Daniel’s three friends were delivered safely from the king’s furnace, and Jonah was delivered from inside the large fish. With God, Abraham and Sarah had a child, David defeated Goliath, the walls surrounding Jericho fell, the Red Sea parted and manna fell from heaven new every morning while the Israelites were in the desert with no other food source. Truly, with God all things are possible! Knowing this gives me hope in all my circumstances, especially those in which the likelihood of a good outcome seems to be against all odds. It’s at these times that God’s “incomparably great power for us who believe” is revealed, just like Paul talked about in his letter to the Ephesians where he wrote –

“I pray also that they eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” (Ephesians 1:18-21)

Yes, Jesus rising from the grave on the third day was certainly against all odds, at least all human odds. “But with God all things are possible.” Knowing this, having this hope, helps me endure my “light and momentary troubles” of today, even though they feel crushing and endless to me. I can endure because I know what Job knew when he said this –

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27)

Job knew, against all odds and despite all current appearances, what his end would be, what he had to look forward to, which was a glorious, victorious reunion with His Redeemer. Knowing this wonderful truth, enabled Job to endure his time of loss and desolation. It is the same for me and for you, dear readers. We have something to look forward to – a reunion with our Heavenly Father and our complete restoration! Currently I identify with these words of Paul –

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

Maybe you, too, are feeling hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted and struck down in your daily life. Hold on! Help is on the way. Against all odds, God will have the final word.

“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. . . . What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do. . . . I am bringing My righteousness near, it is not far away; and My salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, My splendor to Israel.” (Isaiah 46:9-13)

To me, the delay seems long and the odds seem insurmountable BUT – you and I have this promise from our Heavenly Father –

“And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:10-11)

looking forward to that day –

sincerely, Grace Day

pain perks?

Posted on by Grace Day

That doesn’t sound right, does it? There’s an upside to pain? Well, there is the very familiar mantra – “no pain, no gain” which would seem to support the theory that pain does have its perks. Then there’s the saying – “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” Again, this seems to imply that there’s an upside to pain. Athletes would probably agree with this theory. The road to an athlete’s success, no matter what the sport, is probably paved with considerable pain, in addition to dedication and sacrifice. If you are watching any of the Olympic sporting contests currently in progress, you are seeing the results which are only achieved through the painful process of preparation that all athletes endure in order to realize their goal.

Of course, theirs is physical pain primarily. However, not just athletes, but each and every one of us endure emotional, mental, physical and spiritual pain as a part of the process that enables you and me to run life’s race and be successful. The apostle Paul knew about this. Paul would have preferred to bypass the pain, but he didn’t get a pass.

Paul had, as he himself described it – “a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of satan, to torment me.” What did Paul do about this? We find the answer in 2 Corinthians.

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ ”

Paul’s request was met with a definite “no.” How did Paul respond to having his request refused? Not in the way I would have expected him to do, nor in the way I think I would have responded. Paul didn’t pout or complain or argue or give up or walk away from his calling in Christ. He did just the opposite. Paul embraced his painful situation. How do I know this? I read Paul’s response after his request was turned down. Paul said –

“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10)

I don’t know about you, but “delight” isn’t what comes to my mind when I am insulted, or when I am going through a tough time or when things are just so hard and painful that I want to give up, I want to quit. I prefer comfort to pain and ease over difficulty. BUT – if anything worthwhile is to be accomplished, pain and struggle will be a part of the process. Just ask any Olympic athlete – it is pain and having obstacles to overcome that lead to victory.

Paul had some things figured out in this regard. He endured many hardships in addition to his painful “thorn in the flesh.” Paul was shipwrecked, beaten and imprisoned many times. In Philippians, Paul shares with us his secret to enduring and even overcoming life’s painful trials and hardships. He says –

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13)

Paul saying that he can do all things through the strength that God gives him, takes on a whole new meaning for me when I read Paul’s own account of the things he has experienced. Paul tells us –

“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.” (2 Corinthians 11:24-27)

That’s not a complete list, but you get the idea. Paul did not get the pain free life that Jabez requested and received. Still, Paul had no regrets. In fact, Paul said this in his letter to the church at Corinth –

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Paul’s been beaten, shipwrecked and imprisoned – none of that sounds very “light and momentary” to me. Yet that’s how Paul describes what he’s been through, saying the outcome of enduring these things will be an “eternal glory” for him, an outcome which will “outweigh them all”, meaning the hardships he has survived and overcome. This victory will make all the pain and suffering Paul endured worth it. I bet that’s how these Olympic athletes feel when they make the team or when they win a medal and take the podium to stand and receive their reward. James agrees with Paul on this matter. James says –

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

So I can be joyful in painful circumstances because the outcome will be better for me than if I had not encountered and endured pain in this life? I think Peter would attest to the truth of this. How do I know? Well, Peter said this –

” . . . now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:6-7)

And Peter also said –

“But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:13)

So the perk of pain is a good outcome – one that cannot be achieved apart from pain? It would seem to be so. Consider this –

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” (Romans 8:17)

No suffering – no glory. No pain – no gain. I can expect pain in this life. Jesus told us –

“If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. (John 15:20) Jesus also warned us –

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

I can’t avoid pain in this life BUT – it does have its perks. What I endure, persevere through and overcome now, produces in me those things that my Heavenly Father desires, preparing me for what is to come. I want to be able to say along with Paul these words –

“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

Yes, pain has its perks. I am in the race of my life. I am in the race for my life. The pain of it is producing in me perseverance, as James said. Perseverance allows me to endure and eventually to overcome. Then I will receive that “crown of righteousness” Paul talks about. Definitely better than any Olympic gold medal! And we can each receive this prize – it is available to “all who have longed for His appearing.” So –

“let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, . . . Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

fighting the good fight, keeping the faith –

sincerely, Grace Day