Assurance in Suffering: part two
God's Design in Suffering

Why do we suffer as Christians? Why is pain, hardship, and adversity so woven into the fabric of the Christian life, that it would be abnormal not to suffer? In short, what is God's design in our suffering?

Among the answers that God's Word gives in response to such questions (an answer that is one of the clearest and most comforting), is found in Romans 5:3-4. The general context behind this chapter as a whole is concerning the certainty and security of final salvation. In other words, Romans 5 is establishing the truth that if God has saved us, He will keep us saved. And one of the saving realities which is mentioned as a means of God's grace to this glorious end is - our "sufferings". Think about this: our sufferings as justified believers in Jesus Christ (cf. Rom.5:1-2) is one of the great reasons we can be sure that God will keep us saved!

This means that anything which makes life harder and threatens our faith in the goodness and power and wisdom of God - God has sovereignly designed to work in our lives as a means of assuring us that we are saved. This is the teaching of Romans 5:3-4.

But how can Christians really appreciate and savor this design of God in their sufferings without caving in to the carnal anger and bitterness of remaining sin which seeks advantage of God's people during times of trouble? Romans 5:3-4 answers this question by affirming on the one hand, the attitude that glorifies God most when we suffer; and on the other hand, the knowledge we need of God's design for our sufferings, which fosters the aforementioned godly attitude.

The Attitude that Glorifies God most when we Suffer

In the opening words of Romans 5:3, it says: "More that that, we rejoice in our sufferings..." This is one of the most amazing statements in all the Bible. Consider this: we're being told that, as Christians, we rejoice in our sufferings. We do not complain, murmur, or become bitter - but we rejoice in our sufferings. Our sufferings then are an occasion for joy. More literally though, the verb translated rejoice means "to boast" or "to glory in." Thus, it carries the idea of having a "triumphant confidence" in our sufferings.

In addition to this, we must understand that it is in our sufferings that we have this sense of jubilation. In other words, it is not in spite of our sufferings that we rejoice or even in the midst of our sufferings - but in...our sufferings that we rejoice. We therefore rejoice because of or on account of our sufferings. Hence, the God-glorifying approach to suffering is to rejoice because we are in fact suffering.

And this same attitude of joy in our sufferings is seen elsewhere in God's Word. For example, in Matthew 5:10-12 and Luke 6:22-23, Christ commands us to "rejoice and be glad" and "leap for joy" on those occasions when we are hated, reviled, excluded, and slandered for the sake of Christ. In James 1:2, we are commanded again to "count it all joy...when you meet trials of various kinds." When we are facing trials of any kind, the response that glorifies God most, according to James 1:2, is to look on this matter as an incident for joy! So then, in concert with the affirmation of Romans 5:3, God's Word teaches in other places (see also I Pet. 4:12-13) that when we suffer as believers our attitude is expected to be one of rejoicing.

But as we contemplate this attitude of joy that the Word of God calls for in every Christian when they suffer - what is it about this attitude that is so remarkable? Or what is it about this imperative in Romans 5:3 that makes it one of the most amazing statements in all the Bible? One of the fundamental answers to this question is, that to rejoice in our sufferings flies in the face of the most common non-Christian approaches to human suffering. That is to say, a Christian rejoicing when he suffers stands apart from how a non-Christian reacts to their trials. In fact, for a non-Christian, their most typical response to human suffering can be described from one of two ancient philosophical perspectives - either Epicureanism or Stocism.

Epicureanism approaches suffering by teaching that since there are some bad experiences, which cannot be avoided, the way to handle them is by loading life with more pleasure than pain so that the bottom line is always positive. I've seen this played out in people who, for instance, have lost their job, and in response to this painful experience they take a vacation. Now understand this: they don't have the money to go on vacation, but in spite of this "harsh" reality, they go anyway. They want to avoid the pain of having lost a job and having no money - so they go take a trip they can't afford! That is a small but real example of epicureanism. "Let's fill our life with as much pleasure as we can so we can avoid the pain." There are many people in the world who approach human suffering from that perspective.

But certainly the most popular non-Christian approach to suffering is Stocism. This is the attitude we have heard in such expressions like, "keeping a stiff upper lip," or "just grin and bear it." It is nothing more than a mere resignation to unavoidable pain. And for many people in the world, they greatly admire the Stoic, who simply puts up with pain and gets through it no matter the cost. Some people call this "having courage" - but however you describe it, stocism is not the Christian approach to suffering.

Instead, the Christian "rejoices" in his sufferings. He does not avoid the pain nor does he merely grin through gritted teeth and bear it - but he "counts it all joy when he meets trials of various kinds." This is the attitude that glorifies God most when we suffer. And this is the plain meaning of Romans 5:3, "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings..."

But at this point, an important question must be raised: why should we rejoice in our sufferings as Christians? It is one thing for us to affirm the imperative of Romans 5:3, but what is behind this command that would give us the motive for joy when we suffer? Answering these questions will draw us into the heart of Romans 5:3-4, as we look at the knowledge of God's design for our sufferings. I will take up this exposition in my next post.