The Lesson of Enduring Strength

Finally, I believe God allows trials and sufferings to develop in us enduring strength for greater usefulness. The Puritan Thomas Manton once said, "While all things are quiet and comfortable, we live by sense rather than by faith. But the worth of a soldier is never known in times of peace." The truth of that statement has been borne out many times throughout the history of military conflict, including America's experience with high-tech equipment during the Persian Gulf war.

As the United States built up its forces in the gulf region in late 1990 to meet the challenge of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, questions arose as to how various sophisticated missiles would perform in actual combat situations. These weapons had been experimentally tested only during the previous decade, but the United States had not been involved in a major war (Vietnam) in nearly twenty years. However, much to the relief and satisfaction of military and civilian leaders, the Patriot and Cruise missiles performed brilliantly during the two-month Gulf conflict. Those weapons could not be tested to their full worth under training conditions. The pressure of real battlefield conditions and genuine enemy opposition is what proved the missiles' reliability and effectiveness.

Conversely, intense warfare situations also reveal defects in equipment or shortcomings in how troops perform. Based on these observations, improvements can be made. Likewise, the Christian life is a constant warfare (John 17:9-19; Eph. 6:10-18). God places us in difficult life situations to refine us and help us grow (see John 15:1-2). As we move from one trial to another, our spiritual muscles are exercised, strengthened, and become more useful. This whole process builds our spiritual endurance, which makes us all the more effective in future ministry. Remember what the Apostle James teaches us:

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (1:2-4).

The Lord sends trials and sufferings into the Christian's life for various reasons and purposes. Everything from strengthening our faith to reminding us of our heavenly hope to developing enduring strength for greater usefulness may be involved -- and God sometimes uses more than one of these purposes at the same time. God is sovereign and He uses all these worthwhile purposes within the scope of His larger plan for us.


The Lessons From Suffering

1. Suffering produces fresh joy.
2. Confidence in our protected inheritance.
3. Confidence in a proven faith.
4. Suffering enhances future glory.
5. Suffering produces true comfort.
6. Suffering yields greater wisdom.
7. Suffering yields true humility.

Biblical Examples of "Faith in the Fire"

1. Stephen the first Christian martyr.
2. Daniel and his three friends.
3. Paul: A Profile in Suffering.
4. Jesus the Sinless Sufferer.

Attitude Check: Dealing "Well" with Suffering

1. Do not be surprised by suffering.
2. Rejoice in suffering.
3. Understand the purpose of suffering.
4. Trust God in suffering.

(for more information read The Power of Suffering by John MacArthur Jr.)

Lessons Learned From Suffering

Knowing that any suffering experienced by believers is part of God's overall sovereign plan provides its own comfort. However, as with any aspect of truth in the Christian life, intellectual knowledge is not an exact parallel to experiential knowledge. Until we know how we react in the midst of living out a certain truth, intellectual allegiance counts for nothing (James 1:25-27; 2:14-17). Testing the validity of what believers profess is one of the fundamental reasons God allows suffering (Job 23:10).

One sure way to test the genuineness of a diamond is by means of what jewelers call the water test. An imitation stone never shines as brilliantly as a real one, but the contrast is not always easy to detect just by ordinary viewing. Jewelers know that placing a genuine diamond and an imitation one side by side in water will reveal the differences. The real one continues to sparkle brilliantly under water, whereas the fake one loses practically all its sparkle.

As an analogy to this illustration, many people who are very confident in the genuineness of their faith find it lacking when they come under the waters of sorrow or adversity. The supposed diamond brilliance of their faith is then shown to be nothing but an imitation; however, put the true child of God under the water of a trial and he will shine as brilliantly as ever. G.K. Chesterton also used the metaphor of water to make the same point: "I believe in getting into hot water, I think it keeps you clean."

The Lesson of Faith

It seems clear then that the foremost reason God tests us through suffering is to test the strength of our faith. One of the classic case studies in Scripture that illustrates this is the account of Abraham's testing in Genesis 22. It was, in my estimation, the severest trial any human being ever faced.

The whole idea was absolutely inconceivable. It was a trial that made no sense -- not in terms of God's nature, His plan of redemption, His word, and His or Abraham's love for Isaac. In addition to these factors, this trial was perhaps the severest ever for a human being because God told Abraham himself to kill Isaac. It's one thing to watch a loved one die, it's something else to be told to kill that person.

Abraham revealed amazing faith in this situation. He obeyed God obediently, without question or argument (v. 3). In verses 5 and 8 he expressed the quiet confidence, first of all, that he and Isaac would return and, second, that God would provide a lamb for the burnt offering. Those acts suggest that deep down in his heart Abraham knew God's action was going to be consistent with his character and covenant. Abraham may not have known specifically what that was, but the passage indicates that he had a good idea. Abraham was prepared to plunge a knife into the chest of his own son. He was submissive, obedient, and willing to worship God at any cost. God accepted Abraham's willingness as evidence of his faith and clothed him with righteousness.

Such extraordinary obedience in the face of the severest of trials informs us that a believer today can endure the most difficult trials imaginable if he or she wholeheartedly trusts in God. Abraham's test also informs us that God's tests for us might involve people we hold very near and dear, such as sons, daughters, husbands, wives, or close friends. We may have to offer up our own Isaac -- give the ones we love most over to the Lord. We may need to let them go God's way, rather than holding on to them so they'll live the way we'd prefer.

We can conclude that the more difficult the obedience the more excellent it is. Abraham obeyed God in the extremity and as a result he became the model of faith. Thus anyone who has faith in God and is thereby justified is a child in the spiritual line of Abraham. If we trust God as Abraham did, we can be confident in any test or trial.

Second Chronicles 32:31 summarized Hezekiah's testings from the Lord by stating that the purpose was so "He might know what was in his heart." Surely God does not have to test any of us to find out what is in our hearts because he already knows. Rather, He tests us so that we might know what is in our hearts. In that sense He assists us in taking a spiritual inventory and self-examination. Whenever God brings us through a severe trial, it will reveal to us either the strength or weakness of our faith, and the faithfulness of God. If by grace we display a strong faith, that ought to encourage us that it's real and that it can become stronger as we continue to see the Lord through trials (see Job 42:1-6).

(from The Power of Suffering by John MacArthur, Jr.)

The Power of Suffering - Intro

The atmosphere surrounding today’s evangelical church, with its emphasis on easy believism and “feel-good-about-yourself” Christianity, has fostered an unbiblical attitude among believers toward the existence of suffering and persecution in their lives. In addition to the natural aversion to pain and difficulty, many Christians have acquired the notion that hardships should not even cross their paths. When various difficulties do come their way, they believe these difficulties are not from God. But this has not been the mind-set of Christians from the earliest days of the church.

An important example of how Christians in other eras dealt with persecution is the case of Martin Luther, the great Reformation leader of the 16th century. Even before the debates and controversies of the Reformation were fully underway, Luther was known for his faithfulness to the truth: “The firmness with which Luther relied on the Holy Scriptures imparted great authority to his teaching. But other circumstances added still more to his strength. In him every action of his life corresponded with his words. It was known that these discourses did not proceed merely from his lips: they had their source in his heart and were practiced in all his works.” (The Life and Times of Martin Luther)

Luther’s most well-known stand for truth happened in the spring of 1521. By then he had already been excommunicated from the Roman Church and was known throughout most of Europe as the leading critic of the church. Luther earnestly and persistently taught justification by faith alone and the supremacy of the Scripture’s authority. The church opposed Luther on these and other points and vigorously tried to silence him. He was ordered to appear before an assembly (Diet of Worms) of secular and church leaders in Germany to explain his teachings. The assembly hoped Luther, under the intense pressure and intimidation of being “called on the carpet,” would retract his views and give the church and empire some peace.

But Luther stood firm for his convictions. When the leads of the assembly at Worms insisted that he retract all his past statements, Luther refused:

“Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or by the clearest reasoning – unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted – and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the word of God, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience…here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me! Amen!” (Quoted in D’Aubigne, 433)

Luther’s handling of this personal crisis and challenge testified to the greatness and sufficiency of God. At such a tension-filled, pivotal juncture in the reformer’s life, his reactions to the events must have been pleasing to the Lord. Luther did not react with anger or second-guess God for his difficulties. Neither did he turn away from the situation in cowardly fear. Instead, Luther lived out Jesus’ promises in Matthew 10:18-20, “and you shall even be brought before governors and kings for My sake as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up do not become anxious about how or what you will speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what you are to speak. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”

Christians at the end of the twentieth century are unlikely to face the kind of opposition Martin Luther did during the early part of the 16th century. It is also unlikely most believers will ever face the imminent threat of martyrdom. However, I believe it is more difficult to make such assertions with certainty today than it was thirty or forty years ago. Conditions within our post-Christian culture and an unstable evangelical church are changing and declining so rapidly that believers need to be prepared and not get caught off-guard when confronted with persecutions and various hardships. Job 5:7 speaks of humanity's general condition and what we ought to expect: “For man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.” Concerning the potential persecution of believers, the Apostle Paul is even more pointed: “And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

“Christian bashing” is increasingly popular. It has become a favourite pastime among journalists in the liberal media and among liberals in education, the arts, and politics. Bigotry is back in style, and the politically correct form of it is to assault Christians. Often it is those who preach “tolerance,” “non-judgmentalism,” and “intellectualism” who are most intolerant.

If there are confusing thoughts and misplaced expectations among believers concerning persecutions, there is also much misunderstanding concerning the more general role of trials, sufferings, and troubles in the Christian life. We tend to forget even the basic fact that all people live in a fallen world – we are sinful creatures living in a corrupt, sin-cursed society. Believers should not be surprised, perplexed, or resentful when they encounter difficulties throughout this life.

Job 14:1 says, “Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil.” In Psalm 22:11 David said, “be not far from me, for trouble is near.” The Preacher in the Book of Ecclesiastes summarized well life’s difficulty when he wrote, “So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind” (2:17).

Jesus tells us that we should expect troubles: “in the world you have tribulation” (John 16:33). He Himself did not avoid dealing with hardships and experiencing feelings of distress: “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her, also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled” (11:33; see also Mark 14:33).

In 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 the Apostle Paul, based on personal experience, gives a partial list of his troubles: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” Even history’s greatest evangelist and missionary was not immune to sufferings, trials, and persecutions.

So we see that in God’s sovereignty all kinds of difficulties and hardships are real and should be expected in the lives of genuine Christians. One primary reason many believers today have a hard time accepting the role of suffering in their lives or in the lives of friends and loved ones is that they have failed to understand and accept the reality of divine sovereignty. Many also fail to see adversity from God’s perspective. In so doing, they completely overlook the positive, strengthening, perfecting effect that trials are designed to have on believers’ faith.

(from The Power of Suffering, John MacArthur, Jr.)