Joyful Suffering

1 Peter 4:12-19

¹² Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. ¹³ Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

¹⁴ If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. ¹⁵ If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. ¹⁶ But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! ¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? ¹⁸ And also,

“If the righteous are barely saved,
what will happen to godless sinners?”

¹⁹ So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.

The early followers of Jesus probably asked a similar question to the one many people ask today: If Jesus’ resurrection was the sign to confirm that he conquered sin and death, then why do we still suffer, and why is there still so much death in our world.

Peter responds here in 1 Peter 4 with an interesting encouragement: when you suffer, you should rejoice!!

I imagine that this was just as hard for people in the first century to grasp as it is for us today.

I am reading a book at the moment about the concept of joy as it appears throughout scriptures, and I am struck that the term “rejoice” is closely related to joy. The book I am reading is called “the other half of church” suggests that joy can only be experienced relationally and that references in the bible about God’s face shines on us, the meaning is related to this joy. It’s a hard thing to grasp, but there is this idea that says that “When I am around people who are glad to be with me, even when my situation and circumstances are dire, I can still feel joy”

I can relate to this. When my own father died, there was a lot of emotional pain, but there was also something warm and special about the way that all the people who knew him spent time with one another and we each brought joy to the situation as we cared for and loved one another.

Lord, help me to deepen my understanding of joy, and help me to rejoice even (or especially) when I feel that I am suffering.

Written by Ps Justin Ware