A rather remarkable statement is made by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 7:3-4: “Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”

Sorrow and sadness are extolled as being better than laughter. Solomon recommends a funeral over a party. Why? Because, says Solomon, the lessons you learn there are far better, the end result is far greater. Suffering turns out to be much sweeter than superficial happiness. There is sweetness in suffering.

In this series, we’ve been looking at the topic of suffering. We’ve seen suffering is really anything in your life you don’t want, or something you would want, but don’t have. We’ve seen the ‘who’ of suffering is everyone in a sin-cursed world. We’ve seen the ‘when’ of suffering is when you do wrong, as well as when you do right. Suffering comes because of sin, and it comes because of sanctification.

We’ve seen some of the reasons the Bible gives for the ‘why’ of suffering – to produce endurance, to strengthen our faith and hope in heaven, and to train us in godliness. Today we’ll continue to look at some more reasons why we suffer. As we’ve said, the most important question is not why we suffer, but how we suffer. However, as we’ll see, sometimes understanding the purpose of suffering enables us to respond to it in a Christlike way.

Reasons we suffer: 4. As a testimony for others

The next reason the Bible gives for our suffering is actually a benefit to others. It is to inspire others to love and serve God more.

But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Philippians 1:12-14

Paul says that his suffering is actually causing others to be encouraged. As others beheld Paul’s attitude and grace, it caused them to be bold, to take courage, to press forward. Essentially when you suffer and respond in a Christlike way, it causes other believers to say, ‘If he can do it, if she can do it, so can I.’

This was one of the major themes of the book of Hebrews. The writer was urging readers not to allow their suffering to cause them to lose hope, but instead to press forward. The persecution and suffering the early church was facing was making some consider returning to life under Old Testament Judaism. The writer’s list of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 was meant to say, ‘they also suffered, and did not turn back.’

That is why he begins Hebrews 12:1 with the words: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” – since there are so many who have gone before and run with endurance, you do the same. Take courage from those who suffered, but did so righteously.

The fact is, the way we respond to suffering is not just for ourselves – it is one of the most important testimonies we will ever have. People are watching you. How was the Philippian jailer brought to repentance? Through the testimony of Paul and Silas in that jail. Though they had been beaten and placed in stocks, Acts 16 tells us they were singing praises to God.

Reasons we suffer: 5. To humble us

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 1Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10

In this profound Scripture, we find another reason for suffering – to humble us, so that we might be more effective for God. Paul, in the context of discussing some of the revelations he had received, mentions that the amount of revelation he had received could have puffed him up. It was a temptation to be proud. So God sent him some kind of ailment.

At the time, Paul couldn’t see that it was to keep him humble. So he prayed three times for God to remove it. God refused, but gave him the reason: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” What did God mean?

God was saying: I am keeping this ailment in your life, because it is causing you to come to Me in humble dependence. Without this affliction, you will not realise how much you need Me. I need you in that state, so that I can flood my grace and power in. My strength is made perfect in weakness; I need you to be weak, so that my strength can flow through you.

God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. When a person is self-confident, self-sufficient, self-centred, they knowingly, and sometimes unwittingly, resist God. They live life in their own strength. Sadly, this way of life lacks the power of God. God is not going to display His power in and through a man who will take the credit for what God is doing. God will show His strength through the humble, because then God gets the glory.

That is why God delights to select the foolish of this world, the poor, the unlearned, the unattractive – all the types that go against the world’s way of thinking – and He accomplishes mighty things through them – so that it is all of God, and nothing of man. God does not fill people who are full of themselves. This is what Paul saw. He realised that all forms of suffering could now be welcomed as means of being humbled.

Paul realised the more he was humbled, the more God would fill him. He did not want to be full of himself, he wanted the fullness of God’s power. So he says, I take pleasure – I am glad for – infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake.

Paul was grateful for these things – not for the things in themselves – anyone knows that they are unpleasant. You do not enjoy insults, weaknesses, troubles, persecutions as an experience in themselves. No, Paul looked beyond them to what they were accomplishing, knowing, ‘The more I am humbled by things in my life, the more room there is for God to be my all in all.’

Just look at Paul’s list: infirmities – any kind of weakness or failure in his body or soul; reproaches – hurts, insults, slanderous things; necessities – all kinds of needs, pressing, urgent ones and other kinds; persecutions – being attacked because of your faith; and distresses – any kind of trouble that squeezes you into a corner.

Now Paul says if he faces any kind of physical or mental deterioration, if he faces any kind of unkindness from anyone, if he faces any kind of spiritual, emotional or physical need, if he is persecuted, if he has any kind of trouble, problem or calamity – he takes pleasure in it.

Is he a sadomasochist? No – he wants what is best for himself, and that is more of God. He can see past the present distress to what it will bring – a greater opportunity for God to manifest Himself in Paul’s life.

Paul knows his ministry will be more effective if these things take place in his life: “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” – the power of Christ is the only thing that will do the work of the ministry, and Paul knows that the more it is God in him, and less of Paul in his own strength, the more effective he will be.

So Paul had one of the most mature reactions to suffering – let it come, so that God may be my portion in the midst of it.

Reasons we suffer: 6. To let us imitate Christ

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.
1 Peter 2:21

The final reason as to why God gives us suffering is perhaps the most important, yet it is also the one we seem to miss when God is busy with us. 1 Peter says God causes us to suffer so that we will have a Christ-focused, cross-centred life. Peter’s logic is that when we suffer for something that is not directly a result of our sin, what should come to mind is that we are following in the footsteps of Christ Himself.

Christ suffered for our sins, not His own. His suffering was not for His own faults, but for the faults of others. Righteous suffering is to cause us to reflect on Christ our Lord, and the meaning of the cross. As we realise that we are treading the path of Calvary in a sense, and then do so gladly, we glorify God by imitating His Son. Consider what Paul says about the cross:

For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
1 Corinthians 2:2

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Galatians 6:14

Why did Paul want to know nothing but the cross? Why did He only want to preach about the cross? Paul makes it clear he was Christ-centred and cross-centred. Why was this focus important to Paul?

Because the cross is the very centre of the glory of God with regard to man. God being glorified is the very point of the universe, the point of our existence. Remember that Jesus is the revelation of God’s glory to man. Hebrews 1:3 tells us Jesus is the brightness, the radiance of God’s glory. He is the brightest and clearest expression or exposition of God’s glory to man.

That is why Jesus is called the Word – He is the communication of God to man. The cross and resurrection are the ultimate revelation of that glory. The central aspect of Christ’s life on earth was the death and resurrection. And so, if we are to be Christ-centred people, what ought to be the central aspect that we meditate on? The very same. Because there, on the cross and resurrection, we see so much of God’s glory displayed.

We see His justice, His hatred for sin, His holiness, His righteousness. We see His wrath and anger toward sin. We see His patience and compassion for sinners. We see His kindness, His longsuffering, His mercy, His grace, His love. We see His wisdom. We see His sovereignty. We see His power. We see just about every revealed attribute of God, blazing like never before in the atonement of Jesus Christ.

But how does suffering cause us to be Christ-centred and cross centred? Simple: when we suffer, we look to Christ and remember that He was the ultimate in suffering. Our suffering causes us to think upon the epitome of suffering – the crucifixion. As we reflect on the cross, we are drawn to the very character of who God is. We think on His attributes – and it causes worship.

Suffering is an opportunity to send your wandering mind back to what should be the central thought of our lives – Christ died and rose for us. It’s as we meditate on this, that we will react correctly to God. 1 John is very clear that our love for God primarily springs out of meditation on the cross:

• 1 John 3:16: Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us…
• 1 John 4:9-10: In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
• 1 John 4:19: We love him, because he first loved us.

Every failure in the Christian life can ultimately be traced back to a faulty view of who God is, and how He relates to us. The correct reactions to God come from the correct revelation of God. In other words, you will respond to God properly when you know how God truly sees and treats you.

It is a suspicion of God, a view that He is actually not interested in me, a belief that He will ultimately harm me and cannot be trusted – these are the thoughts that fuel our unbelief, pride, and consequent disobedience. Obedience comes from love – this much is made very plain in the book of John and 1 John. “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

So when we suffer unjustly, when we suffer for righteousness’ sake, specifically, when we suffer for the name of Christ – we are to reflect that we are actually miniatures of the great original – Christ Himself. It ought to cause us to reflect on the ultimate unjust suffering – God dying for the sins of mankind.

As we do so, our heart repents of self-pity, and is filled with joy and confidence in the thought that God loves us – He died for us. Our reaction will then be correct, and we can obey.

Being Christ-centred will then cause us to be cross-centred. Understanding who He is will enable us to walk like He did. Seeing what He did for me on the cross will show me how to relate to Him through the cross.

A cross-centred life is crucial to sanctification. Remember Christ’s words in Luke 9:23: “And He said to them all, ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’” Christ expected this cross mentality to be with us at all times. Paul adds:

I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
1 Corinthians 15:31

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
2 Corinthians 4:10

What kind of life is a cross-centred life? What does it mean to die daily and to take up your cross daily?

It firstly means a consecrated life. A life that views itself in light of the cross realises that it no longer has any life outside of Christ. The old life died with Christ, on the cross. It reminds itself of this fact, and lives then solely for Christ’s glory. There are a wealth of verses to explain this mentality.

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15

As I suffer, it makes me remember that Christ died for me, I died in Him, and I gladly embrace living for Him alone. My suffering does not cause me to lick my wounds or murmur, it causes me to consecrate myself further.

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
Romans 14:7-9

As I suffer for Christ, I reflect in the fact that He suffered for me, and I live and die for Him. He died to free me from myself, why do I now want to go back and live for myself? I remember that I left my selfish life on the cross, and count that to be true. I live for Him alone.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

Paul says: ‘I don’t have a life of my own anymore – because I died, I was crucified with Christ when I got saved. So I live that out every day by realising Christ alone is my reason for living. I consecrate myself to Him. I present my body to Him as a living sacrifice – a died, yet am alive.’

Not only is a cross-centred life consecrated, it is also a life of contrition. By this we mean it is a life of repenting of sin, confessing it, putting off the old, and embracing the new. It is growing in righteousness. Why will a cross-centred life produce this reaction? The answer is in Romans 6:

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Romans 6:8-13

A cross-centred life brings sanctification. I realise Christ died to save me from my sins. I was joined into that death and resurrection of His. I died to sin when I was saved, I rose to live for Him when I was saved. I count that to be true and live it out by refusing sin in my life. I confess it to God, repent of it, and do not feed it. I yield myself to obedience, not to disobedience. The cross causes me to confess my sin, and grow in righteousness.

If the shadow of the cross is always on my steps, and I walk towards the blazing holiness of the resurrection, I am continually reminded that I must put off the old, and put on the new. How does this relate to suffering? Peter tells us: “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.”

1 Peter 4:1-2

Suffering is to cause my mind to reflect on the ultimate in suffering – Christ’s suffering for my sin. I walk in His footsteps then by contrition, turning away from sin and living unto righteousness.

The third attitude that a cross-centred life will cause is continual dependence. Did you ever think that if it were not for the cross, there would be no reason for God to prolong our lives? The cross is God’s mercy to mankind. If man lives on and continually rejects Christ and the cross, all he is doing is piling up evidence of his ingratitude toward His Creator, and God’s justice in condemning him.

It is because of the cross that we can look upon the smiling, loving face of God. If there was no cross, all we would see would be the solemn face of the Judge of all the earth declaring us guilty. Lamentations 3:22 puts it well: “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”

God’s mercy, which comes to its fullest expression in the cross, is the reason we are still here. It is God’s second chance to all mankind. It is reason He extends our lives – so that we may have this escape route from God’s anger. That is exactly how Peter explains the delay of the second Coming of Christ – it is God prolonging the period of grace:

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9

As we look at the cross and consider it every day, it should cause continual dependence. God’s mercy in the cross is the only reason we have not been burned up in a split second. The cross reminds me of my utter and total dependence upon Him.

This is what it means to die daily: I recognise I did die in Christ. So I live that out today by being consecrated – living for His life, not my old crucified one. I live that out today by being in contrition – living for the righteousness He is, not for the sin of my old, crucified life. I live that out today by being in continual dependence – living in the shadow of His grace, not in the proud self-dependence of my crucified old self.

Does suffering truly give me a cross-centred focus? The writer of Hebrews certainly thought so: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:2-3).

Nothing can make you as Christ-centred and cross-centred as suffering. Because no one is more like Christ than the one walking the Calvary Road moment by moment. If the centre of our lives is to be Christ’s life, and the focal point of Christ’s life was His death and resurrection, then that is to be the central, pivotal thought of our being.

Suffering is God’s loving choice to cause us to walk the steps Christ trod. Since the heart of our salvation includes Christ the righteous suffering to bring about great glory to God, so God wills that His children walk this path as well. Every suffering can be an opportunity to rejoice that we are being reminded of what is to be the central-thought of our lives.

In the final part of this series, we cover the most important aspect of all – how to suffer.