“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? And also, “If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?” So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.”
1 Peter 4:12-19 NLT
God will never leave us or fail us. We will suffer in life. This does not mean that God has failed us. We might suffer consequences for doing something wrong – God works to discipline us through these lessons, and we need to learn from them. We also might suffer for being a Christian and bearing the name of Jesus. This is suffering that is righteous. As we stand strong in His love, and do not harden our hearts or turn to hate, God is pleased. The Lord is with us. Jesus suffers with us and will never abandon us.
Suffering for doing something wrong means you need to change. Suffering for Jesus means you are doing something right – and you need to stand your ground resolutely, knowing God is with you. He is faithful and He will never fail. We don’t need to please anyone else; we don’t even live to please ourselves. We have found the joy and freedom of pleasing God alone. We will suffer for this – may we never leave the One who will never leave us.
Be honest, do hard times in life pull you closer to or further from Jesus? How can you stand strong with Jesus, even if it means suffering?
