Joy-filled Suffering. Really?

“Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” 

                                                               Colossians 1:24

Joy-filled suffering.  Sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it?  Like jumbo shrimp.  How can suffering be joy-filled? And is it even possible?

Today is going to be another raw moment day.  But that is exactly what memorization and especially meditation is meant to do.  Its job is to cut through the muck surrounding our hearts and allow the Word to do its’ work. (Hebrews 4:12)  The kind of work that over turns tables of faulty theology that have claimed residence and moves us into joyful truth.  Truth that propels us forward into fresh perspective and that energizes us for the sake of the Gospel. 

Suffering.  This is exactly where we need to go today.  Colossians 1:24 is a complicated verse and commentators have no few words and perspectives on what Paul is saying.  The second part of that verse has birthed as many view points as Baskin Robbins has ice cream flavors.  For some reason, my attention is not consumed by the arguments of what Paul meant by “filling up” and “still lacking”, while very interesting.  These brilliant scholars have great discussions over these phrases yet I thought it best to quietly back away and let them “discuss” without me.

I am drawn, no stunned, by Paul’s comment “I rejoice in what was suffered for you”.  Paul’s rejoicing in suffering is thematic.  He mentions it many times in scripture.  Not only does he consider it part of a gospel driven life but a privilege of that life. (Phil 1:29-30) I am not like Paul. 

There are basically three ways I approach suffering. 

     1)  I avoid it. – Practically, I do this by controlling every single thing in my life.  At least, I try to.  If everything goes as I expect it to than all suffering is kept at bay.  Oh, and forget about taking any risks.  Can’t control risks.  Stay safe and in control of life is the script for keeping free from suffering.

     2)  I make it go away. – If I can fix the suffering than fix I will.  Why allow things to be difficult when you can write a check to make it go away.

     3)   I internalize it. – If I suffer anything for too long a period, I tend toward self-absorption.  When I have exhausted all possible avenues of solutions and nothing has changed I fall into a character assassination mindset.  “There must be really something wrong with me that God needs to fix.”

What about you?  Can you relate? 

Paul did not embrace any of my defaults when it came to suffering.  He rejoiced.  Why?  Because the Gospel had so gripped his heart he rejoiced in any suffering that came his way because of it.  In prior verses, Paul wrote that Jesus was supreme over creation (Col 1:15-17), then his body, the church (Col 1:18-20), and finally the Colossians (Col 1:21-23).  Now Paul was affirming that Christ was supreme over himself.  Jesus was everything to him.  When he rejoiced in his suffering he was declaring to the watching world that Christ is worth it.  The Gospel is worth it.  The Gospel has more value than anything that life could throw at him. 

Paul was not focused on himself but on the power of the Gospel.  The words from a popular song come to mind. 

                  “No power of hell,

                  no scheme of man,        

                  can ever pluck me from his hand.

                  Till He returns or calls me home,

                  here in the power of Christ I stand.” 

                                                      (In Christ Alone)

Did you notice that all my defaults focused on me?  Suffering has a way of doing that.  We rarely embrace suffering as a joy even though the New Testament is filled with verses that speak to the contrary.  Our hearts are so saturated with a me theology.  A theology that screams for comfort and ease.  Paul knew something that I sometimes know but mostly forget.  There is no better testimony than a life that perseveres through hardship because we know in our hearts that Christ is worth it.  That everything we need we have in Him.  That anything that life brings against us can not compare with the surpassing beauty and goodness of knowing Christ.  When we choose joy-filled suffering, we are showing the world that this Gospel that we cling to has inexpressible value.

When suffering with an incurable sickness. 

When we live from paycheck to paycheck and sometimes not even that.

When we have wayward children.

When a spouse no longer wants to stay in a marriage.

When we deal with a death of someone or something that meant everything to us.

When life hits us out of left field with who knows what kind of calamity.

Yet when we do it with joy, our sphere of influence takes notice.

When we embrace suffering and don’t wallow and turn from it we become a demonstration of the value of being a Christ-follower.  Even if nothing changes.  To the world this doesn’t make sense and they scratch their spiritual heads.  But mark my words there is no more powerful testimony than when we press on with Christ in spite of calamity and adversity.  Perhaps the very thing that you might want to escape from is the exact situation that God wants to use to showcase His value to a watching world?  We aren’t just in this thing to escape suffering in life.  We are in it because of Christ.  He is worth it. 

I confess, I don’t rejoice in painful situations.  I just don’t.  It isn’t my natural default.  I prefer to avoid, fix or become self-absorbed.  I want to be like Paul.  But I need to get my mind off of me.  It’s not about me.  It’s about Him and what He has done for me.  I asked myself these questions and now I ask you.  Is He worth it?   Has the Gospel so saturated your heart that what ever comes your way, because of Christ, worth it?  Can you conceive that the very thing that you want to escape from might be the exact situation that God wants to use to showcase His value to a watching world? 

Well?

To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda, not even in stirring people up, but in such a way that one’s life would not make sense if God did not exist.

                                                      Cardinal Emmanuel Suhard