SUFFERING &

"That is why we never give up.

Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 

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For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long.

Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!"

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2 Corinthians 4:16-17

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These words were written to "God’s church in Corinth and to all of his holy people throughout Greece." This is a promise for believers. Our troubles are in production of our reward. "They produce for us a glory" so that our endurance is not in vain. What may at first glance feel like a slap in the face, calling our troubles small, is actually a glimpse of how massive is our reward by comparison. In fact it is so massive, that it is outside the boundaries of our current comprehension. 

 

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9b) How bad are your troubles? Given they produce for you a glory (the original Greek word for produce is katergázomai and also means accomplish), it stands to reason that the glory and reward they produce is in direct comparison to the greatness of the troubles. Is your suffering extreme? Endure and so will you receive extreme glory. You may one day consider the severity of your troubles a privilege.

 

In Luke 22:42-44, we see Jesus praying before going to the cross. See if you notice something that strikes you as unexpected.  

 

“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood."

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Did you see that the angel strengthened him in verse 43, but in verse 44, although he had been strengthened, he was still in agony of spirit? This suggests that the strengthening was to endure. It did not remove his stress. Feeling agony therefore, is not failure. Neither is being free of agony necessary to endure. Compare this to Philippians 4:6,

 

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done."

 

It's notable that Jesus was following this very directive when he prayed. The rest of his prayers in verse 43 are not revealed to us but what is revealed shows that the emotions themselves are not wrong. Jesus was without sin. When examining interpretation of the Greek word translated worry in this verse, merimnaō, in other parts of scripture, it includes being anxious, troubled with cares and promoting one's interests. By contrast, the word translated agony in the Luke passage, agōnia, indicates a struggle for victory (of which he gained), severe mental struggles and emotions, agony, anguish and wrestling. Looking at his prayer again,  

 

“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine,”

 

he was clearly not promoting his own interests nor was he expressing worry. What is apparent is that his emotions were bearing the keen awareness of the requirement upon him for severe endurance. He faced not just the physical pain of his sufferings but bearing all that it meant to become the offering for our sin including that evident experience of separation from the Father as recorded in Matthew 27:46,

 

"Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Thankfully this was a temporary situation as Mark 16:19 records him joining again with the Father, but it was clearly a shocking and painful experience because as John 10:30 attests, Jesus and the Father are one. What this aspect of separation required of him is not even fully in our view.

 

We also gain insight from  Hebrews 12:2 about how Jesus endured. "...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Because Jesus is our example (1 Peter 2:21), we can know that our endurance is accomplished like it was for Jesus; for the joy set before us. 

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John 4:34 reveals the source of Jesus' well being, "Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work." 

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Given that Matthew 7:21 adds to this understanding, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven," we can be assured that doing the Father's will is the answer to everything.