Tag: suffering

Who Do You Look Like? – The Purpose of Christian Suffering.

“God is not so much interested in how much work we do for Him, as He is in how much we resemble His Son.”

Is the suffering which God is allowing in your life accomplishing it’s intended purpose or not?

The apostle Peter uses the term “fiery trial” (I Peter 4:12) to describe a process that is like the refining of silver or gold in a furnace. The unrefined ore is placed in a crucible and melted in a furnace until the dross or impurities rise to the top. Then the impurities are skimmed off and thrown away. Now the smelter can see his reflection in the ore which tells him that the ore has been purified.

The metaphor describes what suffering is suppose to do in the Christian. The suffering is to make us aware of and bring us to repentance about the pride, arrogance, rebellion, self-sufficiency, hard-headedness, lack of faith, lack of compassion and other fleshly attributes that are in our heart and manifested in our personality. Prior to the suffering we may not see these sins but everyone else does.

As He removes this dross from His children’s life it makes for humility, purifies and increases our faith, and enriches our lives. People around us can clearly see more of Jesus manifested in our life.

If we respond wrong to suffering and hold onto the dross, we are on dangerous ground because God is committed to conforming His children to the image of His Beloved Son. We do not want the smelter to turn up the heat to get rid of that stubborn dross! Better to walk with a repentant heart and let Him purify our soul.

“Make sure that none of you suffers as a murder, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.” I Peter 4: 15-16

So, in closing, who do you and I look like?

God bless His Beloved Children,

Carl

Is God ALMIGHTY?

In the gospels Christ teaches that God is almighty. But there is so much suffering in the world that God sometimes seems to be powerless. His Son, who was executed like a common criminal, continues to suffer every time a Christian is martyred. And atheist rulers try to chase Him from their countries. If God were almighty, wouldn’t He end the injustice and suffering?

A Communist prosecutor in the Soviet Union before its dissolution, lured or coerced a number of Christian children to disclose the names of their Sunday school teachers. As a result, four leading Christians in the town were sentenced to prison. Although these children could not have known the consequences of their actions, their consciences may forever accuse them as Judases.

Also in the Soviet Union, the children of a Christian family were placed in a home for mentally disabled children because they believed in Christ. One year later, their parents succeeded in getting them out of the home and having them evaluated by doctors in another town, and the children were found to be mentally healthy. Will these children ever recover from what they suffered?

Why does Almighty God ordain or even allow so much suffering? Is He almighty, or is He powerless? The suffering that all of us must endure prompts us to ask the same question.

First, we must examine our understanding of the word might. Many of us probably view the word as meaning the power to crush, subdue, suppress, or punish. But the word can also be used in a more positive way, as in the might to love, to be patient and quiet, to suffer innocently and to be good to wrongdoers.

While beating a Christian, a Communist officer told him, “I am almighty, as you suppose your God to be. I can kill you.” The Christian boldly replied, “The power is all on my side. I can love you while you torture me to death”. Such is God’s might which is reflected in the deep tranquility of the souls of saints. They do not ask “Why all the sorrow?” because they have learned to love the cross, accepting rejection and discomfort. When we take this attitude, our perplexity ceases.

Suffering drives some to despair and torments their soul, while others are grateful for it. I have seen faithful Christian prisoners dancing for joy. They recognize God’s might and patiently show love towards their torturers. God’s love will conquer.

We cannot understand God’s reasons for allowing suffering, but someday we will know as we are known by God (1 Corinthians 13:12). And cannot God compensate in eternity for suffering endured here for a little while? The saint is not a man who is illuminated by God. He is nothing, through whom God’s power shines to love even the worst of men. Who knows if today’s murderer may not be a future disciple?

 We bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, advancing on the path of faith without tormenting ourselves with endless questions about suffering. May we embrace these unanswered questions as we learn to glorify Christ joyfully.

Author: Richard Wurmbrand (1909 -2001) was imprisoned in Communist Romania because of his faith in Christ. You can read his complete story in Wurmbrand: Tortured for Christ – The Complete Story.

Going The Extra Mile

“Throughout the years of brutal suppression, the Christians in Henan often asked the Lord to give them an attitude that would enable them to embrace suffering as a gift from God. With that outlook, they were willing to go the extra mile, and there was little that evil human beings or the world could do to destroy them.”

Henan – Inside the Greatest Christian Revival in History – Paul Hattaway – describing the Chinese Church during the 1960s and 70s

There is much the Christian Church can learn from the suffering Chinese Church. They have endured much and not only survived but multiplied. So much so, that the Communist Chinese consider them a great threat to their goals and aspirations. But the truth is that righteous people are a blessing to any nation and the truths of Christianity should be encouraged, not hindered.

We need to be listening and learning and praying for our Chinese brothers and sisters.

Why don’t you say a prayer for them right now. Thanks and God bless you.

Carl

India: Christian Suffering Is Not the Whole Story

As recently as 25 years ago, many parts of India were essentially unreached by the gospel. Since then, VOM has responded to thousands of anti-Christian persecution incidents, which have become more frequent, widespread and severe as the gospel has spread throughout the country.

But Christian suffering is not the whole story! The persecution that our Indian Christian brothers and sisters are facing is the enemy’s reaction to his great failure — a tremendous move of God in which hundreds of thousands of Hindus have come to Christ in India’s most hostile areas. One such region is northern India, which is home to the Ganges River. Millions of Hindus travel there each year in the belief that washing in the river will cleanse them from their sins. Yet independent studies show that more than 300,000 Hindus in northern India have turned to Christ in recent years.

This mighty work of God throughout India has caused a corresponding growth in opposition to Christian faith and witness. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has seen a 20 percent increase in membership. The political-religious ideology of Hindu nationalism is institutionalizing hostility toward Christians and considers them enemies of the state. Former RSS leader M. S. Golwakar explained it this way: “So long as the Christians here indulge in such activities and consider themselves as agents of the international movement for the spread of Christianity, and refuse to offer their first loyalty to the land of their birth and behave as true children of the heritage and culture of their ancestors, they will remain here as hostiles and will have to be treated as such.”

While Hindu nationalists seek to eradicate all Christian witness from India, the gospel cannot be silenced or stopped. Our Christian brothers and sisters in India continue to live boldly for Christ, joyfully paying any price for the sake of the gospel. Remember Them in Prayer
Source: Voice of the Martyrs

Before I Was Afflicted


Suffering – it’s never pleasant, and we do our best to avoid all forms of it, but suffering is inescapable in this fallen world. The biblical view is that believers should expect sufferings, not simply because they live in this fallen world, but because God uses various forms of afflictions to discipline us, test our faith, and cause us to have an eternal perspective. As a result of false teaching, many have the view that all suffering is a sign of deficiency at our end of the equation. What should be seen as a privilege (suffering that God permits us to endure) is seen as a curse. Suffering that God permits his children to endure, is not harmful, but beneficial. “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.”(Psalm 119:67).
—Rick Becker, who with his brother minister in apologetics in South Africa

From Berean Call