Suffering For Our Neighbors' Good
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ”
Have you wondered why God allows you to suffer? No doubt you have. If you have breath in your lungs, you have most assuredly suffered many times and in many ways, and maybe you’re going through a time of great difficulty right now.
While there are many biblical aspects and reasons for suffering in our lives as Christians, in this post I want to point out one of the fundamental reasons for suffering from 2 Corinthians 4. Let’s look at it. What reason does it give for our suffering as Christians?
…”to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (verse 7)
It is saying that our infinitely good and powerful God has sovereignly allowed us to suffer persecution, difficulties, and affliction in order to display to everyone who knows us and sees our circumstances that He is our greatest life-giving treasure.
He is your treasure.
Consider the wisdom of God through whatever painful situation you may be facing. The apostle Paul is saying, look, I want you to realize that our suffering isn’t an unforeseen circumstance. It isn’t a setback. We’re not just making due while we wait for life to be awesome and struggle-free.
He, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is saying please look beyond the suffering to see how precious God Himself is for me. All who are watching me suffer like this can see the life of Jesus, and that gives me great hope and joy.
How can they see it? Through our actions and what we talk about.
We model for our neighbors that our joy and hope aren’t tied to a life of ease. They aren’t tied to a full belly, a comfortable bank account, a stress free job, a struggle-free marriage, or kids who always obey. In fact, our treasure isn’t in this world at all. The blessings that God gives us are temporary, but the treasure is eternal.
Our treasure is God Himself, and the power to endure all things stems from our treasure.
In my own life, I have desired to be married and have a family for a long time. After a couple failed engagements, I finally met the love of my life, Rosalina, in May 2019. Yet it hasn’t been without its setbacks and trials. She’s from Cuba, a country that doesn’t have good relations with the US. On top of that, the distance, cultural differences, and uncertainty with her visa have put a strain on our relationship. I miss her terribly and wish that God would snap His sovereign fingers and make her appear right here right now. Yet, He is working in the waiting. He is working in our suffering. We both love Jesus more than we love each other, and that has given us tremendous joy, peace, and strength to be patient as God works all things together for good (Romans 8:28).
See how this plays out in Jeremiah 29:5-14. The context to this passage is very nuanced, but for the sake of brevity suffice it to say that God has exiled Israel to Babylon in order to cause them to repent and worship Him as their only God.
In this text, God is calling His people to be a blessing to the city where He has exiled them (verse 7), and to seek Him while they do so (verse 12). How does this relate to our suffering?
It shows us that God will sovereignly allow us to suffer in many ways so that, by our testimony in the midst of it, our neighbors can see that God Himself is infinitely more powerful and precious to us than anything we could ever lose. This drives us to be a blessing to our neighbors while we suffer. Can you see God’s wisdom in that?
So don’t waste your trial. Don’t focus on what you don’t have or how you wish circumstances could be. Rather, may we focus on him in this midst of our pain so that our neighbors in exile (1 Peter 2:11) can see how precious and powerful God is to us, and experience Jesus by our example and actions while we sojourn on earth.