Can Blessings Come from Suffering?

Ephesians Series Ephesians 3:12-13

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1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; . . .
6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, . . .
10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
12 In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence. 13So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
Ephesians 3:1-2, 6-8, 10-13

Jesus solves all your problems

“Come to Jesus and your life will be full of blessings! Nothing shall harm you and you will prosper in everything to which you set your hand. You are the head and not the tail and it is God’s will that only good things will come into your life! Have the faith to believe and claim your inheritance in Jesus!”

The preacher got louder and the message continued unabated. The audience was nearly salivating with desire for this promised abundance of earthly goodness.

So what was wrong with me? My life certainly didn’t match that shining picture and neither did the lives of people I knew.

Instead, collectively we dealt with illness, abusive marriages, mental health issues, devastating job loss, the tragic death of a child, death of loved ones through drug and alcohol addiction, crushing poverty, betrayal, exploitation . . . for starters.

What does Jesus really promise?

Are we really promised that a relationship with Jesus keeps us from all bad things?

Not in the Bible I read.

Jesus stated clearly that His followers would suffer hardships, persecution, and great distress at the hands of evil men (John 15:18-19, 16:33). He himself was dogged by the religious leaders who slandered and mocked him and eventually brutally killed him.

The books of Acts, Hebrews, and Revelation detail numerous ways the world has violated Christians for their faith and will continue to do so.

Paul spells out all that he suffered when he shared about Jesus. He was even told by God ahead of time that he would be immersed in persecutions for the sake of the gospel. (Acts 9:15-16, 2 Corinthians 11:21-30).

Yet, he refers to his mission to the Gentiles as God’s gift of grace (Verses 2, 7, and 8). What do you think he means? At the time of writing, he is under house arrest and is chained to a soldier 24/7. Within a few months, he will die through decapitation.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Suffering with joy

How could the apostle bear up under constant hardship, duress, physical attacks, and near-death experiences? How did he continue to have such great love and passion for the Gentiles that he is willing to stay in the fight for their salvation and glory?

I believe it is the same way that Jesus did: who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Both understood the immensity of God’s grace and the working of His power in us to accomplish His purposes (Ephesians 1:18-23; 3:7, 13). They see the greater glory of bringing many people into God’s Kingdom, and they are willing to offer themselves up–to become the bridge by which others can come more easily into God’s forgiveness and love.

Jesus promised great rewards for those who are willing to suffer for His sake and for walking in righteousness (Matthew 5: 10-12).

Is it worth the pain? I believe it is. Jesus is eager to walk with you and wants you to participate with Him in overcoming the evil of this world. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Counting the cost and the benefits

Are you ready to let Jesus take you to a deeper level of following Him? Let’s do this together.

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Hebrews 4:16 (New Living Translation)

Has the Lord called you to do something that proved very difficult? Are you able to look back and see it as a gift of grace because of what it brought forth? Take a few minutes and let yourself wrestle with God if needed to find the blessing after the wounding. (Genesis 32:24-30)

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
Hebrews 12:1-2; James 1:2-3; John 15:18-19

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1 thought on “Can Blessings Come from Suffering?”

Holly Craw says:

January 20, 2022 at 4:51 pm

Has the Lord called you to do something that proved very difficult? Are you able to look back and see it as a gift of grace because of what it brought forth?

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