THEME: REJOICING AND SUFFERING
-Pastor Nenglian Vualnam
Bible verses: 1 Peter, 4:12-19 Sunday, the 7th September, 2014.
Once there was the USA missionary couple working in a Muslim country. A war was going on there. The place they were working was a battlefield. They lived in a very pitiful and miserable condition. Some years later, they were blessed with children. As the war went on, they could not even communicate with their family members living abroad. At that time, one of their church leaders went to visit them and saw all the sufferings faced by this missionary family. The church leader saw one of their boys who was covered with pox marks, some of which looked infected. But actually, those were ant bites that eventually become immune to their children.
In verse 13: “But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing.” Sufferings are not merely your own. They are also Christ’s. This is the cause for rejoicing because it means you are united with Christ. We need to keep on rejoicing because this joy will strengthen our assurance that when Christ comes in glory, we will rejoice forever with him. This is a commandment and also the identity of all believers. Keep on rejoicing in suffering because this glorifies God.
In verse 12: Suffering comes from God. It’s a God’s planned that has a purpose in us and that God want us to overcome. Suffering is not surprising; it is planned. It is a testing. It is purifying fire. It proves and strengthens real faith. Actually, we are living in a cursed place. Sufferings will come to us on and on. But, God will never let us be thrown into confusion or uncertainty. It should always be taken as a part of life.
In verse 16: “If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that named let him glorify God.”
Glorifying God means showing by your actions and attitudes that God is glorious to you – that he is valuable, precious, desirable, satisfying. The purpose of life is to glorify God. When you keep rejoicing in God in the midst of sufferings, it shows that God, and not other things, is the great source of your joy. It draws us towards completeness. It is not shameful even when somebody knows our incompleteness. It is not a fearful thing. We may suffer in our workplace or any place we live. Sometimes, we suffer when our family members, friends and relatives ill treated us. Let us remember that all sufferings are God’s planned and we should be fearless to bear them for the glory of God.
God bless.
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By- Thangngaihsang Buite
Content Writer, Media Team
