Grace and Grit – Week 4
How to Suffer Well
24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea.
2 Corinthians 11:24
26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.
2 Corinthians 11:26
27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?2 Corinthians 11:27-29
This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows.2 Corinthians 12:1-2
Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know 4 that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses.2 Corinthians 12:3-5
Rope illustration that is a timeline of your life we all have a starting point and we all have an ending point.
Death rate is 10 out of 10
The bible teaches us that you are a soul in a body
We physically die
This is not the end of the timeline
Paul is raptured up to heaven to see the other side and he sees God face to face and it changes his view of suffering
How can we navigate suffering?
- Start with an understanding that suffering is not new
This has been happening since Gen 3
Adam and Eve
Abrham
Moses
Job
Jesus
Paul
Your parents
WE ALL SUFFER
Suffering is not new
For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.Romans 8:22
- Choose belief in God over blame
Sources of our suffering
- The Fall
- Decisions I have made
- Decisions that others have made
- When I die to myself and pick up my cross
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28
What you are going through is for his Glory and for your Good
Jesus entered into our suffering when he took on the cross as our substitute
- Don’t waste your pain
Choose to grow through what you are going through
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.Romans 5:3-4
And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.Romans 5:5
Salvation timeline (same one Jacob used last week)
So, to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Jesus says my Grace is all you need
- Leverage it to help others
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Specific pain allows us to comfort others specifically
- Learn to think in 1,000’s
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 2 Corinthians 12:16-17
18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.2 Corinthians 12:18
Next Steps
- Understand that your suffering is not something new to you
- Decide to stop blaming God and believe in His plan instead
- Ask God how? not why?