Don't Waste Your Suffering

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. (Philippians 1:12–14 ESV)

When the game is on the line, you don’t bench your star quarterback. You’re counting on him to lead the team to victory, and if he isn’t on the field, the team will lose.

Unless you’re talking about the church.

Paul is the world’s greatest church planter. His turnaround story from persecutor to planter is widely known, and he is boldly leading the early church to grow roots and follow Jesus. But now he’s in jail. The early church’s star QB isn't just on the bench, he’s led away in handcuffs.

You’d think Paul would be bummed, angry, and frustrated. But Paul understands something really important about being a follower of Jesus in the world: if you’re a follower of Jesus, your struggles aren’t setbacks — they are opportunities. Paul says here in his letter to the Philippians that his imprisonment (locking up the leader of the early church) has liberated him to share Jesus more boldly, and thus will advance the gospel.

The gospel testimony in Christ followers is an inextinguishable flame. The more pressure and pain we experience, the brighter the flame. 

• If we are broke, we can testify to the riches of knowing Jesus and we can attest to the goodness of the Father by trusting Him to come through for us.

• If we are sick, we can rejoice in the hope of having a resurrection body.

• If we are grieving, we can grieve with utmost hope, knowing Jesus has conquered death for those who follow Him.

• If we are betrayed or falsely accused, we can find refuge in the righteousness of Christ.

When our lives are prosperous and comfortable, our friends and neighbors might put an asterisk on our testimony. Easy for you to say. But when we suffer, no such asterisk can be added. Because it’s really hard to praise God when you’re in pain or your life is in turmoil. But that’s when our faith in Christ becomes a crescendo.

One of the greatest joys of being a pastor is watching our congregation suffer with supernatural hope. The couple who had a miscarriage and praised the Lord through tears the next Sunday. The widow who struggled and suffered for years, but trusted in the Lord until He called her home. The man with cancer who remained steadfast in hope. I could go on. I take no delight in seeing you suffer, but I am amazed at seeing you walk by faith in the midst of it.

Don’t waste your suffering. Don’t grit your teeth and endure it. Don’t give in to self-loathing or anger or bitterness. Don’t grow quiet. Embrace your suffering as an opportunity to glorify God. When you live amidst the rubble of suffering, your voice gets louder. Your words carry more weight. Your hope in Christ is contagious.

I know this is an impossible ask, a weight too heavy to carry. You don’t throw a drowning person a sack of concrete; you throw them a life preserver. 

You need the strength of Jesus. He stands ready to strengthen you for the task:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10 ESV)

The power of God is made perfect in your weakness, not your strength. So whatever you’re going through, know that the Lord promises to be near to you and to give you great purpose in it. It’s not for nothing, it’s for His name. 

Dear friends, let us resolve to be people who advance the gospel in our suffering. Jesus says to take up your cross and follow Him. And He went first.