Rejoice in Suffering

The Reality of Our Situation

1 Peter 4:12–14 NIV

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Suffering, ridicule, fiery testing should not be a surprise for Christians. The most common expereince for Christians since the time of Christ is suffering and ridicule by the world. There should be no surprise.

The reason for our surprise is that we have forgotten or never have grasped the message of Christ and the Lord to which we serve. We believe that if we just protray Jesus in the right way, we will be accepted by the world because the world needs Jesus. We believe that the reason why people do not openly accept Jesus is because of the ways in which the church has failed to share Jesus properly.

This idea that the world will accept Jesus is a denial of the words of Christ and the reality of the world that we live in. Pause for a moment and look at our culture in the midst of these times that we currently find ourselves in. In an unprecedented time, facing an invisible adversary, we can not even make up our minds as a nation on what is going on, what the threat level is and what our best response to the invisible advesary might be. We have some who state that this will be the deadliest killer known yet and there are others who believe that this is a government conspiracy. How much more is this the response of a broken people to the invisible ailment of sin in our lives?

This is also a denial of Jesus very ministry and words. Look at John 6. Jesus knows that his words will offend. He even asks his disciples if they will leave too because of his words. Jesus words are menat to offend because we have become comfortable with the very thing that the Lord seeks to do battle with. Remember that when the words of Christ sting, it is not his words that are painful but rather it is the infection in us that Jesus is doing battle with that stings.

So then we as the Lord’s messengers, we too should be ready that the very message that we share will or should be met with the same response as Jesus himself received.

Righteous Suffering

1 Peter 4:15–17 NIV

If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

There are two kinds of suffering that the believer will suffer in this life. First, we experience the suffering of edification. This is the suffering that comes upon us for the sake of the Lord and our maturity. This is the suffering that we have just spoken about. The second suffering is the suffering that takes place for our own sins. God is pointing us to the fact that we will have all of the suffering that we know what to do with already because of Christ. We do not need more suffering as a result of our own sins. God says that we are going to have enough suffering through the process of sanctification as the Lord allows us to suffer for the sake of our maturity. As a result, we do not need more suffering based upon the consequences of our sin.

While we have been saved from the eternal consequences of our sin, we have not been delivered from the earthly consequences of our sin. You are going to bring extra suffering into your life if you walk the path of sin. This is easy to see in regards to be in murderer, thief or criminal.

Peter though also includes meddlers in the mix. This is the word in Greek for busybodies or mischief maker. Peter specifically is talking about people who insert themselves into situations that they have no business talking into. While we know that as Christians, we are called to hold one another accountable and to inject ourselves with love and care into the lives of others to snatch them from the fire and keep them from sin. This is not what the majority of us take part in. Instead, we meddle in the affairs of others, argue with individuals, and throw our personal opinions around as fact for the sake of our own gain or agenda.

Peter rebukes us as believers for this kind of action because it reflects on the Lord poorly. Meddling is done under the guise of the good of others when in truth your meddling is purely self serving. Stop meddling! Stop being busybodies and mischief makers. There is no place for this in the body of Christ. How can they know that we are Christians by our love if our love is so densly crowded by our meddlesome back talk to one another.

The point of all of that we go through is to point others toward the Lord. We will face suffering that in our suffering, Christ’s sufficiency will be evident and the world will turn to Him. Your life is not your own. Stop living like it is if for no other reason than for self preservation. We suffer that we might share in Christ’s holiness. Rejoice in our suffering because God is in our suffering with us.

Trusting God

1 Peter 4:18–19 NIV

And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

Peter’s final words on suffering is to trust God. Who are we trusting with our lives, our daily decisions, our suffering?