suffering – Kristi P. Powell

Return to Sender

Can I have a different trial, please?

Have you ever prayed this way? I have. When I’m in the middle of a difficulty, it’s tempting to look at someone else’s situation. I know their life isn’t perfect, but their trials look more appealing than mine. I want to exchange my trial with the receipt the way I’d return an ill-fitting piece of clothing.

By the grace of God, that’s not how it works.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4

This is an oft-quoted verse to those experiencing suffering and trials. I memorized it in high school, and sometimes the eyes of my heart would roll. Could I really tell someone with cancer, a woman who lost a child, or a girl who had been abused, to count it all joy?

I’m thankful the Lord deepened my faith and understanding of these verses. I was a skeptic because I believed that joy is only attainable through good circumstances. This cannot be farther from the truth.

Joy Amid Suffering

Finding joy in the midst of a trial isn’t our natural inclination. James 1:2-4 commands us to count it all joy when we suffer, but it also gives us the reason for why we can count it all joy.

For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
James 1:3

Steadfastness is a steadiness, grit, and faithfulness that comes from weathering trials and suffering in a sin-broken world. What does steadfastness lead us to?

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:4

The end result of steadfastness is being made perfect, set apart and holy. God promises that one day our sanctification will be complete, and we will no longer be riddled by sin and brokenness. We will be like Jesus, but not before we join him in eternity. This is a sweet promise. God will finish the work he began in us (Phil. 1:6).

Genuine Faith

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:6-7

Peter tells us that because we are born again to a living hope (1 Peter 1:3), we rejoice, despite the grievous trials we face. God tells us that the end result of trials, genuine faith, is more precious than gold.

Later in James, we read that a man or woman without faith is like a wave on the sea, driven by the wind (James 1:6). A wave is dependent on outside forces to shape and drive it. Through trials and suffering, God develops faith and strength that aren’t dependent on things going on around us but are fixed on the solid and unchanging promises of God.

In the end, only God knows exactly how he is shaping us in our suffering and trials. Just because someone else’s trial ended when they reached a certain point or had a certain realization, doesn’t mean ours will. God loves us too much to leave us in sin and complacency. He works in every trial and triumph to fix our eyes on him, root out sin, and grow our faith.

Press On

Sister, if you are suffering or find yourself in a dark trial, I urge you to fight for joy. Not because of your circumstances, but because this specific, light, momentary trial is preparing you for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor. 4:17). God is working even when you can’t see it. He is refining and sanctifying you for your good and his glory. Trust your Creator.

He sees you. He loves you. He is with you.

*If someone is abusing or harming you, you don’t have to go on without help or a way out. Reach out to a godly friend or a pastor for support and counsel.

All Things New

Famine in Sudan. An earthquake in Papua New Guinea. War and starvation in Yemen. Bombings in Syria. Wildfires in California. Children die school shootings. A friend dies of cancer. A sister suffers a miscarriage. A desperate man ends his own life. Arguments ends a marriage. Gossip kills a friendship.

Our world is hopelessly broken. Deep down, at its core, humanity and the planet we inhabit are shattered.

Glory Scorned

It wasn’t always like this. In the beginning, God spoke into being everything we know. He created a perfect world and declared every part of it good. Whole. Complete. Lacking nothing. Creator and Creation lived in perfect harmony, and the glory of the Lord was over all the earth.

Pride brought it all crashing down. The serpent tempted Eve to disobey God and she fell for it. She doubted God’s word and ate of the forbidden fruit, giving some to Adam as well. Humanity and creation plunged into the ugly brokenness of sin. God, being just, handed down punishment. A curse was laid over Adam, Eve, the serpent, and all of creation.

Groaning for Glory

Here we are. Post-fall, with millenniums of sin, destruction, and suffering. What hope do we have in this cursed, sinful, fallen world?

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18

Read that again. The suffering of this world cannot be compared with the glory that is waiting us on the other side of eternity. When you are in the midst of suffering and trial, we have this sweet promise. It’s nothing compared to our glorious future with Christ! Paul wasn’t saying this lightly. He knew suffering intimately (1 Cor. 11:24-28). Yet he said all this couldn’t be compared to our glorious future with Christ. Amen!

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. Romans 8:19-22

Adam and Eve did not only implicate themselves. They subjected creation to futility, sin, and the curse. “Actions have consequences” my parents often told me while I was growing up, and this had a global effect. The lordship God had given to Adam to rule over the creation was handed over to the serpent for a bite of fruit. Creation groans under the weight of futility. What was created for the glory of God is twisted and torn by sin. It longs for all to be made right.

And it will be made right! Creation will be set free from its bondage to corruption as surely as we will be freed from our sinful flesh! Like a woman giving birth, her moans, screams, and pains are leading to something new.

Glorious Good News

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Rom. 8:23-14

In the face of disaster, famine, and death, the world says, “If only we could come together and stop hurting one another, everything would be ok”. But we know better. We who walk by the Spirit know that our world and the people in it are broken, deep down, rotten to the core. We too groan in anticipation of the freedom of glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:21). We need to be made new. We need a rebirth to wash all the sin, darkness, and evil from this world.

But God already covered the earth once with water, judging wicked mankind, except for one family. Noah worshipped God, but sin was written in his DNA. Sin lived on. Abraham came and sinned. Moses came and failed. David came and stumbled. Not one of the prophets could live the life of perfection God requires, until he sent his only son, fully God and fully man, Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life, being tempted in every way but he chose to obey God. He died the death that we deserve, the punishment for our sins, and rose again, defeating death and sin! In Adam all sinned, but in Christ, the true and better Adam, we find life.

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17

Abundance of grace! Free gift of righteousness! These are yours if you follow Jesus! And if you do not follow Jesus yet, they can be yours! The gift of salvation is open to all who believe. The righteousness of Christ is yours if you trust in Jesus for salvation. Amen, praise God!

Hope for Glory

Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:25

So we hope. We wait. We groan. We walk through the suffering of this life knowing that when Jesus comes back, his Kingdom will be fully ushered in. Every tear wiped away. There will be a new heavens and earth. We will be with God in resurrected bodies, untouched by sin and shame. Yes, we wait with patience, knowing our God is working all things together in his time for his glory and our good (Rom. 8:28).

(Check our my previous articles on Romans 8 here, here, and here. Happy reading!) AllthingsnewRom8:20-21

Slaves and Sons

The Antebellum period of southern American history has always intrigued me. However the idyllic utopia of plantations and southern charm is riddled with the rot of slavery. Among the numerous injustices and abuses, masters and other white males in authority sexually exploited slave women. Women often bore children from these unions and their mixed race children joined their mothers as slaves. These men faced no consequences for the sexual abuse of their slaves and they enslaved their own sons and daughters. This is absolutely unthinkable! Yet in this broken, depraved world, a child called his father “master” and was denied the status and love of sonship.

Praise be to God, this is not our fate with our heavenly Father!

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, Romans 8:15-16

After teaching us that it is only through the power of the Spirit that we can kill our sin and find life (Romans 8:12-13), Paul roots us in our identity in Christ. This identity affects everything else in our lives, the way that we look at God, ourselves, and the world. Paul lays out these astounding truths:

We are no longer slaves. Our debts were paid (Romans 8:12) and our chains were loosed. If we are in Christ we are free from slavery to sin!
We’ve been adopted into God’s family. He didn’t have to adopt us. He could’ve saved us and left it there. However he chose to make us part of his family, giving us all the gifts, blessings, and inheritance of sonship, fellow heirs with Christ!
We can address him personally. This special relationship gives us access to God. A child scampers up into his father’s lap, fearless. Likewise, we don’t need rituals and special ceremonies to speak to the God of the universe. When we are in Christ, we have full and complete access through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Praise God! What a wonderful truth to face this broken world with. We are children of God, come what may.

Then Paul adds an uncomfortable condition.

…provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:17-18

It’s easy to talk about the blessings of our walk with Christ, but we miss crucial truths when we don’t soak in every piece of his counsel. Paul says that as children of God, we are heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him.

Often we skim over this verse because it makes us uncomfortable. We don’t like the fact that suffering is part of the Christian life. We want ease. We want comfort. But we are not made for these things! We are made to display the breathtaking glory of God that shines through the darkest of suffering. Paul reminds us that any suffering we may face this side of eternity cannot compare to the glory that awaits us with God. All this toil, heartache, and tears, will melt away in the dazzling, glorious light of God when we see him face to face.

Sisters, suffering will come in this life. Don’t be afraid of it. Embrace the perfect counsel and sufficient promises of God and trusty that the same One who raised Christ from the grave is with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).