" SUFFERING "

Once again we are looking into " SUFFERING." (PAIN, MISERY, HARDSHIP). Suffering may come from obeying God. Sometimes hardship comes as a result of obeying God. Are you following God but still suffering - or suffering even worse than before? If your life is miserable, don't assume you have fallen out of God's favor. You may be suffering for doing good in an evil world. Anytime I think of suffering I'm reminded of Job. As we see calamity and suffering in the Book Of Job. It's important for us to remember that we live in a fallen world where good behavior is not always rewarded and bad behavior is not always punished. When we see a notorious criminal prospering or an innocent child in pain, we say, " That's Wrong." And it is. Sin has twisted justice and made our world unpredictable and ugly. The Book Of Job shows us a good man suffering for no apparent fault of his own. Sadly, our world is like that. But Job's story does not end like that. Job's story does not end in despair. Through Job's life, we can see that faith in God is justified even when our situations look hopeless. Faith-based on rewards or prosperity is hallow. To be unshaken, faith must be built on the confidence that God's ultimate purpose will come to pass. LAST POINT: How much must Believers endure? There is a price for being identified with Jesus. Along with the great treasures, Paul mentions the suffering that Christians must face. What kinds of suffering are we to endure? For first Century Believers, there was economic and social persecution and some even faced death. We too must pay a price for following Jesus. In many parts of today's world Christians face pressures just as severe as those faced by Christ's first followers. Even in countries where Christianity is tolerated or encouraged, Christians must not become complacent. To live as Jesus did - serving others, giving up one's own rights, resisting pressures to conform to the world - always exacts a price. Nothing we suffer, however, can compare to the great price that Jesus paid to Save us. Until Next Time... Jim,