happy holidays everyone!

It's been about three months since I last sent out a Firewatch, and I offer no excuses for that. So I ask your forgiveness and let's just jump right into this one!

With Thanksgiving two days away, we often thank God for such things as His Forgiveness of our sins and our future blessings awaiting us in Heaven as well as our past and current blessings, such as family, health, stability, provisions, etc.

But I think it's important that we also thank Him for our past, current and future SUFFERINGS as well.  This may catch you off guard, but think about it.  The Bible is very clear that 1) God allows our sufferings because 2) He uses them for a beautiful purpose, so 3) we must joyfully embrace them and thus 4) thank Him for them.  Where do I get this?

Well, two of our greatest heroes, inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, tell us this in no uncertain words.

Peter exclaims:

1 Peter 2:18-21

Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?  But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Christ expects us to endure unjust suffering, and commends us for it when we do it.

1 Peter 4:12-13

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

We should *expect* and *rejoice in* in sufferings, for they will enable us to better understand who Christ is and what He did for us.

1 Peter 5:8-11

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.  And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Remember that 1) you are not alone in your suffering (Christ is with you and other believers around the world share in sufferings too), 2) these sufferings will mature you and 3) these sufferings will point us back to Christ (which is a very good thing).

and Paul cries out,

Ephesians 3:12-21

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.  I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Thus as we suffer, God the Father is glorified, Christ is glorified, the church is glorified and we are glorified, as we become rooted in and empowered by Christ's love.  It is often through persecutions that Christ chooses to deliver His love to us.  So if you are in a tough spot right now, instead of complaining, look for God's love within it and thank Him for it.

Philippians 3:10-11

I want to know Christ-yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

We actually should *want* to participate in His suffering, to become like Christ, our King.

Colossians 1:24

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.

We are to rejoice in our sufferings when they build up the body of Christ, our fellow believers.

2 Thessalonians 3:1-7

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters,and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.  All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.

It is right when we endure sufferings, for it increases our faith and love now as well as guarantees a future reward later.

Romans 8:17-18

Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Realize that 1) sufferings are a normal part of Christian living, not the exception, 2) we experience them so we can share in Christ's glory and 3) that glory will be far more wonderful than the sufferings are terrible.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

When we suffer, it allows us to experience God's comfort (which is a VERY good thing); it is well worth the price.

2 Corinthians 4:15-18

All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

We are to be thankful for our outward sufferings, for they produce in us 1) an internal renewing and 2) an eternal glory.

Do you see a pattern here?  Sufferings are typical for Christians, they mature us and allow us to share in God's glory, and thus we should joyfully endure them and thank God for them.  This may seem like an odd topic for Thanksgiving week, but if we thank God only for the 'good' in our lives, then we are only partially thanking Him.  To fully thank and appreciate God, we must do so for both our blessings AND our sufferings.  So this week, take a moment and thank God for the troubles He has allowed in your life and see how He has glorified Himself and strengthened you through them.

As for me, Father, I want to thank You for reducing my financial and relational support the past couple of years (and now increasing them!), for it taught me to find contentment in my relationship with You and to trust in You (rather than myself) for the provisions I need.  Proverbs 30:8 and Matthew 6:33, among several other verses, became a true reality for me the past couple of years, and I am so appreciated of and glad for that!  So Father, thank You. You rock.  And please, please remind me of these truths and strengthen me for whatever persecution You are to soon send my way, for I do not want to dishonor You in how I respond to that next stage of suffering. May You be glorified, may others be impacted and may I be matured.  Amen!
 

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