ISAIAH 25:8-9 – He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
THEME OF THE DAY. SUFFERING AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. It is inevitable. It cannot be avoided. It must not be resisted. Nor should it be sought. It will come. It must. God has ordained it to be not only one of the marks of His children but the primary ways He works in His children. The “it” is suffering, and it comes in many forms; physical, emotional, and spiritual. No one likes it. No one wants it. Everyone will have it. But it really does serve a good purpose. Remember God doesn’t waste our suffering. He uses our suffering to do many things in our lives.
First, suffering purges us from self-sufficiency as we see how frail and needy we are – For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).
Next, suffering makes our hearts tender enabling us to show greater compassion for other sufferers and share God’s comfort with them – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
A third good purpose behind our suffering is it will do the work of conforming us into the image of our Savior. The Apostle Paul wrote, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death” (Philippians 3:10).
And a fourth work suffering does in our lives is found in today’s scripture. It produces a heart of “expectant waiting” on the day of our deliverance from this world of suffering into the eternal world of no suffering. This is our blessed hope. This is what makes us endure, even prosper, in our suffering. We look forward to our certain future. We live in our suffering with these words of the Apostle John anchoring us in the sure word of God’s promises for our future – Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:1-4).
Yes, suffering is inevitable. It cannot be avoided. Don’t try. Instead see God’s hand in it and we will learn to rejoice in the good work it is producing in and through us.
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You that my future is sure and bright because of Your amazing grace.”
QUOTE: “Suffering times are growing in Christ times. Let it do such work in your heart today”