Learn obedience, even in suffering !

Friday, March 18, 2022

Learn obedience, even in suffering !

“Although He was the Son of God, He learned obedience through all that He suffered.” Hebrews 5.8

Except for masochists, no one likes to suffer ! We usually only see the negative side of suffering, yet the Bible tells us that there is a positive side to it as well. Through it we can be more like Jesus. God builds our character through hardships and times of suffering. Even Jesus, although Son of God and therefore immune to sin, agreed to face suffering in order to become the perfect Savior and thus assume the mission that His Father had chosen for Him. The excruciating pain He had to endure was the price to pay to save the world. What price are you willing to pay in order to please God ? If you become bitter and blame God for the suffering you are experiencing, you are actually blocking part of your soul from accessing God. Job, who suffered much more than what we generally suffer, said to his wife who told him to curse God : “You talk like a foolish woman. What ! we would receive good from God, and we would not also receive evil ?” (Job 2.10). The Spirit has some things to teach us that we can only learn through suffering. Saul became king without going through hard times. He did not develop the kind of maturity and character necessary to fulfill the missions God wanted him to have. On the other hand, David spent years suffering, pursued by Saul's henchmen, often narrowly avoiding death. When he finally ascended the throne of Israel, he had become a “man after the heart of God” (1 Samuel 13:14). Do not rebel against the sufferings that you encounter and that God has permitted in your life. Do not focus all your efforts on avoiding difficulties at all costs. If God didn't spare His own Son, how can you expect Him to spare you ? Learn obedience, even when you are in pain !

Source (His Word for Today)