The Christian and Pain

The Christian and Pain Jesus said, In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. Jesus reveals the two sides of Christian life: trouble and victory. We would prefer to have only the victory. But to experience victory, trouble is necessary. Some people present the ideal Christian life as constant health and wealth. But Jesus has promised us trouble. Writing to Timothy, Paul gives three models of Christian life. The first is the soldier. This lifestyle requires rigorous training to prepare for real hardships in battle. We must discipline ourselves to pray and study His word. We must surrender our feelings and will to His control and to learn obedience. As a soldier undergoes long marches for training, we must learn consistency through long hours of humble service. We face vicious battles, not with flesh and blood but with a strong and devious enemy. Following Jesus requires sacrifices of putting service to God above our career and prosperity and putting loyalty to our commander above family ties. Paul next compares the Christian to an athlete. The first century athletes were required to take ten months of rigorous training before they were allowed to compete. We too must give ourselves to spiritual preparation. The athlete took an oath to follow the rules, just as we must faithfully live according to God's word. Any athlete must push on even when in discomfort and weariness. We must be willing to suffer to win the prize. Paul's final model was the farmer who works hard to produce a good crop. Christians are to work hard, not to earn salvation but to bear fruit for Jesus. Farmers are dependent upon uncontrollable weather. We depend on an uncontrollable God. Prayer works, but we never control God. He sovereignly moves as He chooses. The farmer is rewarded with a harvest. Our reward is seeing God use us as He transforms others. Paul tells us to reflect on these models. While no one is saved by their own works, those who receive salvation by God's grace are called to a life of hard work for God. To be effective, we must pray, study God's word, and worship Him consistently. To follow Jesus often means sacrifice and pain before experiencing victory. Paul speaks to the Philippians about such pain. He tells them of one of their own, Epaphroditus. Paul calls him a fellow worker and fellow soldier. He also ran the race of life like an athlete and worked like a farmer. His hard work for Jesus brought on sickness and near death. Yet in the midst of his suffering, his concern was for the church not his own pain. Through that time, Paul also suffered. He had sorrow and anxiety for both Epaphroditus and the Philippian church. He lists many other of his sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11. I need to emphasize that some suffering is God's will for us. Psalm 66 says, For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. Peter wrote, It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. Later he adds, Those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. In this last verse, 1 Peter 4:19, he gives instruction on how we should respond to suffering. His first point is to keep the faith. We want our faith to bring an end to pain. That is an appropriate prayer but should not be the primary goal. Our first response should be to commit ourselves to our faithful Creator. Faith is surrender to God's will, not always getting what we want from God. Instead of complaining, recognize that God is in control and knows what He is doing. Instead of doubting, remember that He is faithful and trust His ways. So, commit yourself to God, your Creator. Ask for deliverance but accept His answer whether it is yes, no, wait, or silence. Peter then tells us to act upon our faith by continuing to do good. Acknowledge your pain but continue the work motivated by faith. As a good soldier, continue to fight the battle, the good fight of faith. As a good athlete, continue to run the race set before you. As a good farmer, persevere until all the harvest is in. Exercise your faith by doing the work of God whatever your pain may be. Finally, rejoice! In the first chapter of 1 Peter, he tells us that all kinds of trials prove and refine your faith while bringing glory to Jesus. So, rejoice in your pain. Paul teaches in 2 Corinthians 1 that hardships force us to rely on God rather than on oneself. Then in chapter 12, he adds that trouble helps us to stay humble and to give God all the glory. In Romans 5:3-4 and James 1:2-4, Paul and James agree that we should rejoice in trials and suffering because they bring forth fruit of maturity and character in us. This fruit is not automatic. Both agree that it is only by persevering in faith that pain produces this fruit. This suggests that if we fight the pain either with unbelieving anger or in a misguided belief that God never uses pain, we may not persevere and bear fruit. However, knowing that God does use pain to develop our character, we can rejoice in faith rather than moan in unbelief. Are you suffering? Pray for deliverance but rejoice in the value of your suffering. Keep the faith and continue to do good by faith. Are you disciplining yourself as a soldier, athlete, and farmer? The more you discipline yourself, the less God will need to use pain to discipline you. Are you a soldier of the cross, ready to follow Jesus as Paul did, whatever the cost? Let me close with his words from Philippians 3:10-11. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.