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Embracing Suffering
Brian Mashburn
November 12, 2017
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Embracing Suffering
When you ask people if they want to mature, most say they do. When you ask those same people if they want to experience pain or discomfort, all say they do not.
The truth is you cannot do the first without the second.
Think. Nothing moves us like pain. Nothing springs us into action like discomfort. In our heads, we know that pain and discomfort are a part of life, and can even admit that they grow us to into places of maturity formerly unknown. But when they come, we do not want them. And we will expend an embarrassing amount of our lives avoiding them.
We ask: Can we not mature without pain? Can we not be comfortable as we transform and grow? But then, observation, experience, and God Himself answer with one unified voice: No. No you may not.
It was Paul and Barnabas who bravely stated this hard truth to the churches as they travelled: "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. (Acts 14:22)
In spite of this reality, Christians will forget, sidestep, argue against, or even feel entitled to avoid these uncomfortable elements necessary for maturity. After all, what could make more sense? If it hurts, avoid it. If it is uncomfortable, don't do it. If pain comes, escape it.
Flying in the face of this, our Lord Jesus willingly embraced pain and discomfort for the attainment of something greater. For a few weeks, let us meet some of these unwanted and neglected teachers – Conflict, Death, Forgiving, Stillness – and let us learn to embrace them.
Today, we meet and consider our teacher Suffering.