Trusted with Suffering

You’ll think I’m insensitive and hard-hearted when you’ve finished reading this post.

Or you’ll think I’m much tougher than I actually am.

Today’s blog rant is in response to the whining and hand wringing I see scrolling through my social media pages or bannering conservative headlines. Christian after Christian boo-hooing with shock and indignation about unfair treatment because of their faith.

What? Unbelievers are just waiting for us to slip up so they can mock, call us hypocrites, or condemn the gospel as worthless?

What? The world is disapproving, stone-throwing, and oppressive the moment a Christian dares publicly step on the current third-rail of political correctness? By opposing gay marriage? Challenging transgender surgery? Daring to suggest that women shouldn’t abort the baby women residing in their wombs?

What? You say? The Bible and it’s description of these times is proving true? Well, boo-believer-hoo. Time to get over ourselves, people, and put on our grown-up souls.

Don’t think I’m someone eager for social martyrdom. I don’t like it either. I pray carefully over every word on this small blog – not only because I want to honor the Lord but also because I don’t want to throw myself under a bus unless God clearly calls me to do it. There’s nothing fun about having a world of people rejoice in your downfall. Nothing glamorous about being circled by people carrying large stones.

Still, we can’t possibly be shocked by what’s happening and we need to remember we are called to faith, not moaning and whining.

God has not only warned us about these days, He’s instructed us how to respond:

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” 1 Peter 4:12-19 ESV

I’m going to tell you something and I want you to listen carefully. Building the kingdom of God is not a board game. We are in a battle for souls with an enemy so clever, so beautiful, so deceptive that God sent His only Son to defeat him.

We have lesser enemies. We will come under fire. Some of us live on the front lines. We’ll get hurt. Deeply wounded. Suffer to the point of deep despair. But whatever happens to us is witnessed by God and within His power to limit. He will trust some of us with great suffering that we may share in the sufferings of Christ. We will be glad for what we’ve endured on the day Christ returns. We will be glad then.

But not now. Now, there will be scrutiny by oafs and ingrates just waiting for us to mess up so they can scoff. Now, there will be headlines, lawsuits, derision, and social isolation. Now, there will be characters in movies and television to make us look like fools. Now, there will be pain.

For some, there is much worse. Loss of jobs. Loss of freedom. Loss of physical comfort. Separation from family. Torture. Imprisonment. Death. All inflicted on those who claim to follow Jesus. ALL UNFAIR. ALL barely endurable if it weren’t for the faith and grace He provides.

In the moment of suffering, we may have few choices left. We can choose how to carry ourselves in suffering and how to respond. We can whine like the Israelites in the wilderness or we can walk into fiery furnaces with honor, remembering those who emerged without even the smell of smoke on their clothes.

One day, the suffering we endure right now will be a fond memory, so today is when we should practice responding with honor, faith, grace, truth, and love. Not whining like those who don’t know the truth. Not complaining like those who haven’t been told the full story. Not dragging our feet as if our Lord did not walk willingly to Calvary for us.

Alert one another to trouble, yes. Share stories to receive comfort, indeed. But remember that cowardice is a sin.

I am the scaredest of all scaredy cats, loved ones, but I believe what God says and He says love will cast out all fear. I trust this and will trust this in the days to come.

When I was forty, I’d never done a push-up. When I was forty-four, I did seventy in order to earn my black belt. I started by doing one. We must begin to endure suffering and persecution with faith, grace, and courage. And remember, there’s NO WHINING in Jesus!

So, go forth, loved ones, and whine no more. If God trusts you with suffering, how will you respond?

 

 

Trusted with Suffering: a rant about all the whining http://t.co/ARqwtc4CSC #persecutedchurch #Christiansunderfire #amwriting

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) June 6, 2015