The Fiery Ordeal Among You
A friend recently wrote the following in an online journal, and I thought it was a good question so I decided to add my two cents here.Quote:
| I was thinking... God uses trials and tribulations to teach us lessons and help us grow closer in our relationship to Him, correct? What happens if you refuse to let those times get you down? What happens if you deal with them but still maintain a positive attitude and a heart filled with hope and joy throughout all of the ordeals? If you never get broken hearted? Does that mean that something really big and bad is going to have to happen in order to break you? |
The first thing I thought of when I read this was I Peter 4:12 - Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
Peter warns us that "fiery ordeals" are a normal part of life; we shouldn't be surprised by them - it's no strange thing when we suffer. Of course, Peter was writing to people undergoing persecution for their faith, so "fiery ordeal" might have been very literal for some of them; church tradition says that many Christians were soaked in oil and then lit on fire as human torches to light the emperor's gardens at night.
Then Peter says this:
but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
When we suffer, Peter says, we get a small taste of what Christ went through on our behalf, and sharing in his sufferings is actually (though it may not seem it at the time) a blessing. In an earlier verse (I Peter 4:1-2) Peter says:
Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
Our suffering performs a valuable service in our lives; suffering gives us strength, allowing to resist temptation, thus 'ceasing from sin'. But in all of this, Peter doesn't give us any indication that we should be broken or downhearted by our suffering; he tells us we should expect it, and rejoice in it.
Under what circumstances should our suffering "break" us? Well, I would say I Peter 4:15-16 gives us a good answer to that:
Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.
There are right reasons for suffering, and wrong reasons for suffering. If your conscience is clear of everything from murder to troublesome meddling, then rejoice in your suffering. If your conscience is not clear, then you must have an altogether different response to suffering.
Posted On Aug 14, 2005 at 3:59 AM
On Aug 14, 2005 Mr. T wrote: When I read that quote, I immediately thought about Hebrews 12. Of course, that *MIGHT* be because I'm preaching on it this morning!
In any event, the author of Hebrews says "Endure hardship as discipline", and talks about how our earthly parents disciplined us for our own good, and that if we are truly children of God, and not illegitimate, then we should *expect* God to discipline us.
I think that often as Christians we don't want to consider hardships as discipline from God, because that forces us to acknowledge that we have erred. It is much easier for us to attribute discipline to persecution for our beliefs, or attacks from Satan.
However, when I think about the relationship between myself and my children, there are many times when I have to discipline them. (The same was true, of course, with myself and my parents
). Why should we expect our relationship with God to NOT have this aspect of discipline in it? The goal of such discipline, of course, is to "produce a harvest of righteousness and peace".Of course, there are difficulties that come from living in this world and from our standing up for what is right. We need to be careful, though, to recognize that *sometimes* what we experience is God correcting our behavior and attitudes, and not a persecution for doing right.
Just my two cents. . .
Doug Replied: yes...how many times have I heard Christians "bragging" about "suffering for Christ", when in fact they are really suffering for their own arrogance, selfishness, lack of compassion, etc. And that's what Peter talks about when he mentions the good and bad reasons for suffering.
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