SUFFERING AND THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD (3)
ONE OF THE means used by the Lord to conform the Apostle Paul into the image of Jesus Christ was suffering. When Jesus transformed the persecuting Saul into praising Paul, He said, "For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake" (Acts 9:16). The Apostle Paul majored in suffering for Christ's name’s sake. Yet all that he lost for the cause of Christ he counted as rubbish that he may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having his own righteousness, which is from the law, but the righteousness of God, which is through faith in Christ. Paul wanted to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings in order that he might be conformed into Christ's image for the glory of God. We read in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 that Paul even boasted in his infirmities. “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me, and He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
THE KEY THAT enabled Paul to rejoice was his ability to see beyond himself and the pain, persecutions, and inconveniences of his circumstances. His greatest priority was the advancement of Christ's Gospel and not concern for his own comfort. "And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God"(Acts 20:22-24).
GOD'S COVENANT PEOPLE must understand that the way of the cross is the road of conformity to our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who confess Christ as Lord will submit to the providence of God as they daily work out the salvation God has worked in them, with fear and trembling. We are commanded to trust the Lord in every situation of our lives, whether we understand the circumstances or not. Much of the time we do not understand why we go through what we do, but as followers of the Lamb of God, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). God has promised believers that all things, which come upon us in this veil of tears, are filtered through His loving Fatherly hands, for His glory and our good. Thomas Boston, a Scottish Presbyterian of the 17th century, once wrote, "Whoever the instruments of our affliction and whoever's hand is heavy upon us we meet with nothing but what comes through our Lord's fingers. Whoever the messenger is, God is the One who sent him." Day by day, God is conforming believers into the image of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:16), through trials, afflictions, and suffering, and in this we must rejoice.
Friday Devotional: April 11, 2025
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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