Strange

I never really gave it much thought and when I did I'm sure I didn't think of it the right way, but there's a passage from 1 Peter 4 that's got a strange ring to it.  It says, rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 

I've got to admit, I can't remember the last time I was excited over suffering!  Not many people long to suffer.  So this is just plain strange!  Rejoicing over suffering doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me.  But maybe God's got something here - have you ever found that life was absolutely great after some sort of suffering was over?  I live in Ohio so our winters have a tendency to get pretty gloomy and gray!  So on the off chance that the sun comes out, that day is absolutely amazing!  But it's only because we've had several gray days that the sunny ones are so powerful to us. In the summer we have sun all the time, but we don't think about it much. 

Maybe that's why we are to celebrate and rejoice in our sufferings because when they're over - we don't take life for granted so much.  But we've missed something!  This passage doesn't just say rejoice in sufferings, it says rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.  We know what those sufferings are right?  They are the things that led him to the cross.  They're the sufferings that beat Jesus within inches of his life and then sent him to the place where he would eventually give up his life for all of humankind.  These are the sufferings we are to rejoice in.  They are the ones that we're supposed to participate in.

Peter says to rejoice in those kind of sufferings - the kind of sufferings that point us and others to Jesus.  When your life is falling apart, are you able to point people to Jesus?  In the midst of the pain and suffering of your daily routine - are your sufferings evidence that God is at work in you?  I believe that this is what Peter is really getting at - pointing people to Jesus when life just flat stinks! 

Our world isn't short on suffering. It isn't short of temptation or trial or any other trying thing.  The challenge for you and me as Christians is to use these to remind us of the suffering that Jesus endured for us.  The challenge is to use these sufferings as springboards to a life of worship in the good times and in the bad.  We rejoice in the sufferings of Christ.  We rejoice that we can participate in these sufferings, not because we're masochists but because these sufferings serve as the gray days that help us enjoy the sun that much more. 

So may you enjoy the sufferings, trials, and rough spots that today will send you.  May you experience gloom in your life for a moment so that through it - the Son might shine brighter in your life. May your sufferings connect you to Jesus today. 

Lord we don't like to suffer but you tell us that suffering isn't all bad.  Remind us today that through the suffering of your son we were set free.  Remind us that it's because of the gloomy, gray days that the bright, sunny ones are so much more beautiful.  Lord send the gray that we might see the SON today!  AMEN.