Suffering Is Part Of Your Calling (Part 1 of 2)

For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Philippians 1:29

You may not think this to be true at first, but to believe in Christ and to suffer for His name sake is a gift… We would never truly equate suffering with a gift; however, in the body of Christ suffering is gaining… This is why Paul says “For unto you it is given…” You have been given a chance to allow your tears to water a seed, you have been afforded a (n) opportunity to allow your pain to produce growth and allow your work to not be in vain… We believe in a lot of things, when we are young we believe in Santa Clause, when we get a little older we believe in our friends and soon we believe in the first relationship we have… Each of these things are either untrue or lead to disappointment… Today, place your belief in something real, place your belief in something that will last throughout eternity, place your belief in Christ… It is only in Him that through suffering we can smile knowing what will eventually come to pass… It is only in Jesus that we can be cast down amongst our peers and have faith that we will be exalted… I was once told that if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything… I was also told that when you don’t make a choice you have already made one… Today, many of us are trying to straddle the fence of life that divides good and evil… We want to “have our cake and eat it too;” however, for many of us the one thing we don’t want to do is work to succeed… 

Paul’s letter to the church of Philippi teaches us a very valuable lesson in life; this lesson is simply that suffering is inevitable… We are given a golden opportunity to suffer for the name of Christ as oppose to suffering for monetary gain and worldly riches… When one suffers, they bear, endure or go through something… Challenges are at every turn in life; however, the outcome can either be positive or negative… One who suffers for wealth will forsake their kids, sometimes their own health and will never be satisfied… One of the most interesting facts that I have learned is how many kids that come from wealthy families have become alcoholics or had bouts with drugs... Despite what you have been told or even what you have heard, we are afforded the opportunity of a lifetime, everything we suffer for can have true meaning, everything we endure can be worth the battle and everything we go through can add to our growth personally, spiritually and in the direction of our family when we are fighting the “good fight…” In suffering you find out so much; the people who you relied on won’t be as close when you are suffering, the power you thought you had will be finite when you suffer; however, through all this, suffering allows you to realize who’s “power is made perfect in weakness…” Make no mistake about it; if Christ would not have died on the cross you and I would not be alive today… Because of Christ (more importantly His suffering) you and I can do all things and overcome any obstacle… 

The bible teaches us in Matthew 10:22 that man will hate you and you will suffer for the name of Christ, but it concludes by telling us that we will stand and be saved… “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Whether you are trying to make millions or trying to save millions of souls, the only thing that these two very different avenues of life have in common is that you will suffer… Paul writes this letter to the Church of Philippi as he sits in prison (suffering) for preaching the word of God… As a Christian we always want to look at the Eternal Bliss that is promised us when Christ returns, we want to look at the promises that Jesus tells us in John 14:14 about prosperity and how we can have anything if we ask in His name “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” However, too often we want to turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to the suffering that we must endure… There isn’t one person in the bible that didn’t suffer before being exalted… Today let us look at our lives and see how much suffering we try to avoid for the name of Christ, take a look at how many times you have quenched your thirst for Christ because of what people might say or do, let’s see how often we refute His name around certain people or how often we put our religion on the shelf to fit in or get ahead… Like I said earlier, suffering is a part of life, the thing to note though, is that it can either lead to growth or death… Which path of suffering are you choosing today?

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!