Suffering as a Christian

Background Scripture: 1 Peter 3-4
Lesson Scripture: 1 Peter 3:14-18; 4:12-19

Introduction

God created a beautiful and perfect world into which He placed our human parents. They had no cares or sorrows; everything was provided for their happiness, and there was nothing to mar it.

Satan is God’s enemy, and in an effort to strike back at God, he invaded God’s perfect world and caused sin to enter it. Immediately, as a direct result of this sin, death and sorrow entered the world. The human race has been plagued with suffering ever since.

How should a Christian respond to suffering? That is the question that this lesson puts before us today.

Key Verse

And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name (Acts 5:41).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

About thirty years after Jesus’s resurrection and ascension, persecution was threatening the Christian faith. Peter wrote to his fellow believers from Rome, which he referred to as Babylon. It is likely he called it Babylon because of the sinfulness and godlessness that abounded there. Nero, the wicked, despotic ruler of the Roman world, would soon unleash horrendous persecution upon the Christians. Many would be arrested and sent to be torn apart by dogs, crucified, or burned alive. Peter himself was crucified during this wave of persecution. He evidently foresaw the pending persecution because the encouragement he offered to those who suffer is a significant theme of First Peter.

Bodily persecution has been a major weapon Satan has used upon our Christian forbearers, and it continues in some places of the world yet today. Presently in North America we face almost none of it. Saul, before his conversion, persecuted Christians, dragging them from their homes and imprisoning them. He tried to force them to blaspheme (Acts 26:11). How else could this be done than through inflicting extreme bodily pain? We are fortunate to have Martyrs Mirror as a historical record of the many who remained faithful in spite of the suffering inflicted by Satan through secular and religious authorities. Surely many of them were strengthened by Peter’s encouragements and exhortations as they endured pain and torture.

Persecutions were often accompanied by intense interrogations. Peter encourages the suffering brethren to willingly answer their questioners. Only eternity will reveal how many tormentors were themselves led to salvation through the testimony of suffering Christians who were encouraged by the words that appear in our lesson scripture today.

Christ Himself was our example of enduring great suffering. His suffering was unjustified; he had done no wrong to deserve it. Like Jesus, Christians also have been called on to suffer for doing good. Suffering through persecution involved being arrested, interrogated, imprisoned, misused, and punished as a common criminal. Let us try to imagine the shame and embarrassment one might feel at being subjected to such treatment. Peter exhorts such suffering brethren to retain a clear conscience while taking wrongful treatment for doing good; only evildoers need to be ashamed by being treated as a common criminal. We are assured that those who endure difficulty and suffering will be saved; those who do not will find their lot among the ungodly and sinners.

Practical Truths for Today

There is much suffering in the world today; sickness and tragedy are a part of life. Through man’s disobedience, Satan spoiled the goodness of God’s creation, and sin and death, along with all manner of heartaches, entered the world. War, famine, disease, violence, murder, abuse, and misery are profusely widespread. The world languishes under the unimaginable weight of suffering. Much of the pain borne by humanity is due to the evil nature of mankind and is inflicted by people themselves. Likely no one has ever lived a life without suffering.

As Christians, we are not exempt from suffering, but we are able to avoid much of the trouble that is the direct result of sinful, selfish living. Some diseases are the inevitable result of harmful habits. Wrongdoing and crime bring their own anguish, distress, and sorrow. Much of our suffering however, is indiscriminate and is simply part of the human condition. God alone sees and knows the reason for all things. As we experience suffering, we are to entrust the keeping of our souls to Him, our faithful Creator.

We may think that as Christians, God owes us the good things of life because we have endeavored to be faithful. As we reason that God will reward right living by material blessings and good fortune, we can begin to feel entitled to enjoy pleasure and ease. On the other hand, some may be tempted to think that troubles and suffering are caused by God’s displeasure. In either example, there is danger in such thinking.

One of the biggest dangers when confronting suffering, pain, and disappointment is harboring hurt and offended feelings. The Bible speaks of those who have made shipwreck of their faith. What better way is there to describe someone who has become bitter toward God or their fellow Christians because of life’s circumstances and suffering? They have allowed the storms of life and the rocky shoals of distress to sink their ship of faith.

Another danger is misunderstanding or misjudging the suffering of someone else, maintaining that the suffering of another person is the result of a sin they have committed. The story of Job explains that his friends had much to tell him about likely causes for his suffering, eloquently pointing out that Job must have done something to deserve it. But after God spoke and revealed divine truth, He instructed Job to intercede for his friends: “For ye [the friends] have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath” (Job 42:7). It is better to lend a listening ear and prayerful, affirmative support to our suffering friends than to criticize and assume we know the reason why.

Suffering draws us closer to God if we let it. It helps us realize the uncertainty of life and helps us to lean harder on Him.

Where did the apostles and our martyred brothers and sisters get the strength to endure torture and sufferings? God supplied it in a special way. It is important that a strong and trusting relationship with God be cultivated daily in calm times. Then, in the storms of suffering, there will be a solid foundation underneath to sustain and uphold us.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). In our sufferings, let us keep our spiritual eye on the reward awaiting.

Questions

1. What are ways to help someone who is weakening spiritually under the weight of suffering?
2. Discuss: Sometimes the mental anguish we face today is just as difficult as the torture the martyrs faced.
3. How can we answer someone who does not believe in God because He allows so much suffering in the world?
4. What are ways Christian youth can help relieve the suffering of their fellow men?
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Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).