Fruits of Suffering

This morning my Bible study wrapped up our inductive study of 1 Peter. This book is full of great promises and challenges to trust God with. Is it really possible to thank God in the midst of suffering? Is all suffering from Him? Is there hope in the midst of suffering? If you wrestle with any of these questions you might benefit from a peruse through this letter from a famous guy named Peter to a group of people undergoing persecution. The study we used is here and it is free to download.

My conclusive statement after several months of study was:
Our Enemy says, "You suffer therefore God: Must hate you. Must not be good. Must not be in control. Must be evil."
BUT
God says, "You suffer...and so do I with you. AND I can bring good out of this if you will trust me with it."
We wrapped up our time by listening to a sermon on this topic by another smart fellow named Mark Driscoll. Here is the link if you have time to listen it is a good one with some great thoughts to chew on.

As much as we hate to accept it suffering comes to us all, to live in this world is to suffer. Many much more than others but none-the-less none of us are immune to the fall-out of that rebellious bite in the Garden. (I'm not trying to sounds depressing here - in fact I'm in a great place today, enjoying the balmy 67 degree weather here! It is just the topic at hand I guess.) BUT the good news is the GOOD NEWS. This isn't the end. Things do get better. And until then He can and does use these hard things for good.

Mark challenges his listeners to suffer with a purpose, don't waste the opportunity to grow. He quotes E. Stanley Jones, "Don't bear trouble, use it." Turn it into a testimony. Not my first thought when trouble comes, but a good challenge to remember. For now my suffering isn't so much personal as it is watching those I love suffer. This is the worst! And it is also driving me to my knees in prayer more than ever before - and I'd like to think that is one of the fruits of their suffering. It is bitter-sweet that I would benefit from their trials, but I'm thankful that at least some good is coming from it, better than nothing good at all.