The Powerful Position of Suffering

Do you feel like you lack the power of God? I know I do. I feel my lack more often that I care to admit.

It’s not that I regularly walk a powerless life as a believer. But certain areas of life seem to be lacking. It’s like  amnesia of the heart—there’s an inconsistency in my walking out of His power. And I hate inconsistency. Lately, I’ve become fed up with it. I’ve been on a rampage of sorts, to do spiritual violence in my heart against that parts of me that don’t look like Jesus.

Paul wanted to “know him and the power of his resurrection” (Php 3:10). Amen! Who doesn’t want that?

But if you and I stop there—if we only read that part of the verse—we’ll have no idea how to know Jesus and the power of his resurrection. It doesn’t just come because we declare it as a desire of the heart or even if we tell the Lord of our desire. Look at what Paul says next:

“and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us”

Woah, Nellie. Do you see what I see? In order to know Jesus and the power of his resurrection, we have to suffer.

Our interim pastor preached an excellent sermon recently (click on the June 17, 2018 sermon), and one of the biggest takeaways that bolstered my heart was his explanation of 2 Timothy 2:1-7.  Paul’s letter to Timothy was written during his second imprisonment, sometime shortly before he was martyred.  He communicated his desire to see Timothy (1:4), and the letter is full of instruction, exhortation, encouragement, and even warnings.  One of his exhortations to Timothy was to “be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2:1)

The implications of this verse and what follows arrested my heart, because my struggle for joy is real, and the Lord knows how desperately I’ve been seeking Him about it. I really want the resurrection power I mentioned earlier, so that I can walk in joy. In his sermon, Pastor Mark pointed out two keys to the “how” of attaining the power of his resurrection.

First, he pointed out that power comes from God. “Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

Second, he made it clear that in order to receive that power, there must be a way that we position ourselves.

Do you know what that position is?

Yep. Suffering.

“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2:3). I prefer the NASB that says, “Suffer hardship with me.” It’s an invitation to link arms in the spirit and do this life in Jesus together, not alone.

So as a mom of five kids, in order to obtain the joy I desire, through His resurrection power, I need to suffer the chaos, the screaming of a toddler, the endless messes, the sibling arguments, the endless appetites, the tween’s emotional meltdown. But not just for the sake of suffering. Mark delivered the gut-wrenching, convicting point, “Your suffering isn’t a hindrance to the gospel!” No, it’s the very context through which the gospel is able to be seen as most glorious, and the resurrection power is obtained. It’s the how and why for my joy. Because I can’t have joy if I don’t have the hope of the gospel in my suffering—Jesus and his resurrection power—to obtain it.

Remember what Paul said in Philippians? He wants to gain Christ—Christ his prize, his treasure, his reward. So, in 2 Timothy Paul encourages Timothy to seek the glory of Jesus. And he’s quite clear that the way to gain the glory of Jesus is to suffer.

“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops” (2 Timothy 2:4-7).

I’m aiming for a November half marathon. In order to get a medal, I must complete the entire race. I also have a PR I aim to beat (this is my prize). The last time I looked, half marathons are 13.1 miles. It’s not a quick little jaunt made without breaking a sweat. No, it’s a grueling 13.1 miles, most likely with hills. In order to really run the race, I must complete all 13.1 miles—I can’t take shortcuts—because to do so would mean forfeiting my prize.  So, my training happens now. I’m not in all-out training mode, as the race is months away, but it means when I come to a hill, I run it. Every time. It means I diligently prepare my body, little by little, just about every day. To borrow Paul’s words, in a race, all runners run. But only one receives a prize. Therefore, I want to run to obtain the prize (in this case, my PR—everyone gets a medal these days!). I don’t run aimlessly. I can’t sit on the couch and eat bon-bons every day and expect to finish the race, let alone beat my PR. That’s not how it works.

Similarly, if we aren’t suffering in our pursuit of Jesus, we won’t gain a crown. And our crown is Jesus. So to quote Pastor Mark directly, “You’re not playing the game if you’re not suffering—you can’t be in love with this present world and win the crown.”

I know the Lord wants me to gain Him, because He has positioned me to receive His power. And, I have positioned myself to receive His power in various voluntary ways. In this season, I can’t have peace and quiet, a constant clean home with a clean kitchen, and endless amounts of time alone, nor do I really want it deep down, if I’m honest. I won’t gain Jesus’ resurrection power in that idyllic world, because I won’t come up against my gross inadequacy and weakness. It’s not the right position.

I aim to love Jesus with everything I have and to walk in His power, which is my joy. I aim to gain Him as my crown. So, in this season of life, the primary context in which my love for Him is being strengthened, and where I get to encounter him in His power, and gain Him now and in the future, is through the suffering of motherhood. It’s where my weakness and inadequacy is on full display. I’m in the perfect position to cry out to Him, to reach out to others for prayer, and to be strengthened by His grace. It’s daily. It’s moment by moment. And it’s hard. But I believe it’s worth it.

And, as it always is with the Lord, my suffering isn’t only for my joy, but also for others.  He’s working out not only my salvation but inviting me to suffer for the sake of my children’s salvation, and any other person He has given me to spiritually mother. Listen to Paul again,

“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2:10)

and

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” ( Colossians 1:28-29)

Maybe you’re a mom, suffering in similar ways to me. Maybe you’re single, suffering the ache of being known intimately and being misunderstood in that place. Whatever station of life you’re in, would you join me before Jesus, would you position yourself to share in His sufferings, so that we and those we’re called to love might gain Him?