Suffering
Instruments of torture during the Passion of Christ - He suffered ALL for each one of us. Let us turn to Him in our times of trial and suffering.
Thursday of the Second Week of Lent 3/9/23
“ . . . but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
and endurance produces character,
and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us,
because God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been give to us. Romans 5:3-5
When you reach a certain age it seems everything starts hurting and needing repair, leading to quite a bit of pain, especially when surgeries and physical therapy are involved. We can either become disgruntled -or- suffer with Christ, -or- offer our sufferings to Christ, knowing that His sacrifice and suffering was much greater than we will ever be expected to endure. His love will cover our pain(s).
Pain can be a purifying process. Sacrifice and suffering tend to go hand-in-hand, but the early Christian communities also attach an indescribable joy to their sufferings. They were beaten, imprisoned and continually under persecution in horrific ways, if they identified as a follower of Christ. They took very seriously the challenge Jesus delivered to them, ‘If you want to follow me, deny yourself and take up your cross daily’. (Matthew 10:38 and 16:24, Luke 9:23).
Throughout the New Testament are passages alluding to this joy through suffering, even as a way to get to heaven:
The last of the Beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew: “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.” Matthew 5:10-12
In Luke’s writings of the Acts of the Apostles, after they had been “flogged and ordered to stop speaking in the name of Jesus”, they were dismissed. “So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” Acts 5:40-41
And, in a Letter of James: “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4
This seems hard to comprehend, but it is the making of saints. And, we are all called to be saints. So, even in the trials, pains, and sufferings of this life, no matter how small or how great, let us attempt to offer them up to God, and find the joy in growing closer to His Son through our humanity. May we find hope that endures, through endurance, perseverance and the refining of our character. Hope in eternal life with Jesus and His Father in heaven.
May you continue to be blessed on your Lenten journey.