How to Rejoice in Suffering
We will go to great lengths to avoid hard things, or suffering.
Much of our addiction problems in the U.S. today — addiction to food, alcohol, drugs — is all in attempt to escape pain. We have begun to normalize things like divorce and abortion, so as to escape suffering. It’s our human nature to desperately want out of a terrible circumstance or a tragic situation.
We hate to hurt.
As Christians, we know that God often uses pain and suffering to sanctify us and complete His good work in us. Hang with me though the first chapter of Philippians and I’ll show you how this is not just a simple platitude.
Suffering advances the Gospel of Jesus Christ
In the very first verse of Philippians Paul calls himself a bond-servant. I think the concept of a bond-servant may be difficult for us to understand in our cultural context. When we think of servants or slaves we think of people in bondage against their will. That’s the 21st century American view of a slave. But the 1st century Middle Eastern slave, or servant, is very different. Here a person is choosing to be a bond-servant.
In Deuteronomy 15:12–18, the writer explains that God gave Israel a law which allowed for a slave sold to another Israelite to go free after 6 years of service.
