Suffer to Be Beautiful

June

I still remember how devastated your mom was after the passing of your dad, Sonny.

But she was able to keep moving forward and enjoyed her life wife her grandkids and all of you. So many good memories have come from her life.

Talking with the family yesterday

Kleenex

Brenda and Kathy and their latchkey necklaces

George’s favored position

Jenny’s chlorine soaked hair.

Greyhound bus tours

After talking with you all I have to wonder if she would even think this place was clean enough.

Maybe we should all fire up and sweeper and run it under her bed.

For someone so concerned about her height, she is now standing above us all.

But you all told a story yesterday that has stuck with me ever since.

The tight hair story.

You have to suffer to be beautiful

That reminded me so much of a set of passages that have been a great reminder to me in ministry and hopefully it will be a great comfort to you today.

1 Peter 5:6–11 ESV

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 5:10 ESV

10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

This world is a world of suffering

This is true for believers in Christ Jesus and for those who are not believers in Him.

I do not think there is anyone here today who is unaware that this world has difficulty. That this world has heartache and loss, it has trial and temptation.

Today we are suffering the loss of a friend, a mother, a mawmaw. We are suffering from grief.

You know, if I thought this suffering and many others like it was all there was, I just don’t know what I would do. I don’t know how I would get through.

I do not know what words of encouragement I would offer if suffering was all there was.

But I thank God that this, what we are experiencing today, is not all there is.

I have hope, and I hope you do as well. I have hope of seeing June again. I have hope of a world better than this one. I have the hope of an eternity rather than this short life we have here on earth.

How do we have this hope?

I’m glad you ask,

2 Corinthians 3:4–5 ESV

4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,

I I pray Paul’s prayer from Romans 15:13

Romans 15:13 ESV

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

It is the words oof the old song

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

I have because of what Jesus Christ has done for me.

There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them.

Clare Boothe Luce.

1 Timothy 2:5–6 ESV

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Hebrews 9:24 ESV

24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

I trust Jesus

Hebrews 10:23 ESV

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Any gain requires suffering

If you are a weightlifter you have to suffer to gain

If you are a athlete you have to suffer to gain

If you are a student, you have to suffer to gain

If you are going to grow, there will be some suffering

Even passing out of this world into eternity has some suffering.

James 1:12 ESV

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Romans 8:18 ESV

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:28 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Psalm 34:19 ESV

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Grief and suffering can seem to overwhelm us. This world threatens to overwhelm us at times.

John 16:33 ESV

33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

We have a hope because of who we trust.

Romans 12:12 ESV

12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

I am praying for each of you to have hope in Christ today.

Romans 15:13 ESV

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

1 Peter 1:3 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Romans 5:2–5 ESV

2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

We do suffer to be beautiful. The bible calls that our glorification. We eagerly awaits this glorificarion.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–17 ESV

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Won’t you surrender your life to Christ our Lord today?

Let your suffering produce something beautiful.

For the family i would encourage you with the words of

Romans 12:12 ESV

12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Let your suffering produce beauty. Glorify God in your suffering and He will exalt you in His suffering.

June is not suffering anymore. Beauty is all she sees. I pray we will all be so lucky one day.

Let us pray.