Why do we think it is unusual to suffer as Christians? There are some churches that teach that we will rise above the sufferings of this world when we become a Christian. Even myself, I wonder if I’ve been ‘too soft’, and thought of suffering as an ‘unfortunate consequence’ of engaging in mission. I’ve tended to believe that suffering is a by-product of sharing the gospel, but I think I’m wrong. It is more than that- it is integral to the gospel.
When we look at the apostle Paul, suffering was not a side effect of his mission; rather it was at the very centre of his apostolic life and message. His sufferings provide evidence of the truth of the gospel. In fact, they are an extension of the sufferings of Jesus (Col 1:24). God promised him at his call that his mission and suffering would be intertwined (Acts 9:15-16).
So much of our time is spent getting rid of any skerrick of suffering in our life. I wonder if we have gone too far though- as a society and as Christians. We have gone too far if we stop sharing the gospel, and stop loving people because we have been rejected. We have gone too far if we are anxious or surprised by suffering and leave no room for God’s sovereignty in our life. We have gone too far if we fail to have joy in suffering, like the Thessalonians, who received the word of God “in much affliction with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess 1:7). We have gone too far if we think we can rise above suffering and be victorious over suffering in this world (that time will come, but it is not yet).
My prayer today is that we would not be surprised by suffering. Rather, God’s name would be magnified through us; we would suffer for doing good (as opposed to doing evil!); and we would grow more like Jesus as we depend more and more on a very good God. (Andrew)

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