“For unto you it is given on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake…”-Philippians 1:29
When it comes to suffering, there is not a genuine Christian who is not appointed to it. Why? For His sake.
“For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.” –2 Corinthians 4:5-15
I also realize that no one spoke of, or endured, suffering more than Christ, though ours are light in comparison (Isaiah 53), who told us before His ascension that as the Father sent Him, so He would send us (John 20:21).
I have suffered, including fellowship of His sufferings, afflictions, trials, and testings, so that I might learn and grow by the lessons that the Lord gives in the process (Psalm 119:71).
Often we find that we are in control of our own world, though overall He is actually in control; we may even deceive ourselves into believing that we are under His control, or are trusting Him, and are being led by His Spirit (Romans 8:14), when we are not, or we are limiting Him.
We can pray, Lord, increase our faith, or, Lord, oh, that I would grow in grace more so I might be just like you, and then, when He brings us through the process to learn the lessons, we lose control, and there it is: we find out who it is that we really are, and who it is that we really trust (John 3:6).
We have heard some say that the Lord will never give us more than we can handle, and I have to say, this is not true whatsoever, because in many cases He brings us to the place of more than we can handle to show us what we cannot, to show us what it is that He can. This is done so that we trust not in ourselves (2 Corinthians 1: 5-10).
You see, the root of fear is control, and throughout our lives we are taught to control every aspect of our lives so that we do not have to trust in the Lord that we may grow, though we claim that we are doing so. Then, we lose that control; we then have to trust the Lord in ways that we never have before, and then we suffer through our unbelief until we transition into what it is that He means for us to see outside of our own limited scope to bring us into a larger place (Psalm 4:1).
Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
In conclusion: Through suffering, the Lord introduces us to Himself, to see His faithfulness, which is His righteous operations in Christ, so that through these sufferings, as we are conformed into His image, we may come into more spiritual growth and so that, out of testimony, we can be faithful witnesses of His resurrection (Psalm 17:15; Romans 8:29; Revelation 19:10).
