Certain things just seem to belong naturally together: Fish and . . .? Bangers and . . .? I wonder what we might pair suffering with though? Peter associates it not with ‘peace and well-being’ but, on no fewer than four occasions in his first letter, with glory. Is it possible to do more than just survive times of suffering? Paul clearly thought so, for he wrote that ‘if we suffer with Jesus, we shall also reign with Him.’ (2 Tim. 2:12 KJ21) For this reason, I coined the phrase ‘suffer-reign.’

Many of us will have discovered how times pain and misunderstanding can make us much more serious and determined about seeking God, rather as strong winds drive the roots of young oak trees deeper into the ground. We may also have known times, though, when the effect of our suffering been to actually reduce our trust in Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, and diminish our willingness to go the extra mile for Him.

A friend often wonders how those who do not know the Lord can possibly cope with all their troubles. They have to manage them on their own and without (knowingly) knowing His help. That can lead so easily either to pride in their self-reliance or to greater depths of hardness and even cynicism. Those who know Him, though, and who bring their distress are often those to whom others turn when times are hard, because they have been softened by their experience, and can offer richer truer comfort from their own depths of compassion.

This matters. Upwards of 74% of the world’s population live in countries where social hostility towards religion is high, and 64% live in nations where the government restrict its practice. We have quoted elsewhere the idea that the seed of the church is in the blood of the saints – but it is not a glib platitude. The hearts of some do grow faint so that they turn away from a wholehearted commitment to the Lord.

Many believers in the so-called free world feel as though our own nations are edging into times of hostility toward Christians. Perhaps we have forgotten how much active persecution there was in Britain only a few hundred years ago, against Non-Conformists on the one hand, and Catholics on the other. There is so much in our history to be aware of – and to repent of.

The great sacrifices that faithful men and women made in past generations have made it possible for us to live in one of the relatively few countries around the world where there is limited persecution for the faith. But even here, Christians in certain professions now have to be very careful. In some cases, there are even physical legal boundaries now concerning where we can pray.

Even within the Church, there are moves to make our faith subtly conform more to the ways of the world than to the heart of God, supposedly to make it more relevant but perhaps actually doing no more than making life easier for ourselves. As a result, parts of the Word of God are being ignored, side-lined or even left out altogether: the whole theme of God’s judgement, for example, both temporal and eternal, is increasingly by passed in many churches. Yet Jesus had so much to say about it.

But if we are afraid to mention certain things even with our brothers and sisters in the Lord, what hope have we got when it comes to suffering for our faith? We are called to overcome, to, as it were, ‘suffer-reign!’

This was the theme I sought to unpack in some detail in a talk based on 1 Peter that I gave in church last autumn, which you can listen to here.

It is a subject close to my heart, and included in Intimacy and Eternity. You can find the relevant chapter here.

You may also appreciate the detailed notes I wrote whilst preparing for the talk. They are not a literal transcript of the talk, nor exactly a ‘finished’ article, but we hope you will them both stimulating and useful.

“All who are victorious will be clothed in white,” Jesus promises. “I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and His angels that they are Mine.” (Rev. 3:5)

May we be of their number!

Photo by Carlos N. Cuatzo Meza on Unsplash