“In this you rejoice greatly, though now for a little while, if necessary, you are suffering various trials, so that the truth of your faith may be more precious than gold that perishes when tested by fire, to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6, 7).
Like most things in life, traumatic situations can be viewed in more than one way. As Christians, we must see everything, including something unpleasant like pain Truthful way. We must see it as God Himself sees it, and usually that means seeing it from a broader perspective. When we are hurting, we need to look at the reality of the situation more than just the fact that we are hurting.
One thing we need to understand is that whoever lives in this world, this world has been ruined because of the sins committed before we came here, will suffer. The experience of pain is a fact of life, an unavoidable difficulty. No one knows this more than Jesus Christ, who suffered greatly despite not making a single bad decision regarding the way he lived his life. If the right lifestyle protects a person from pain, then Jesus would never have known pain, but not only did he know it, but he knew it deeply. He was “rejected and despised by men, a man of sorrows and afflicted with sorrow” (Isaiah 53:3).
Yet if pain is necessary, most of the suffering that often comes with it is not. And again, Jesus is our example. He drank deeply of the cup of suffering, but even in the moments of His greatest suffering, it is hard for us to imagine that He was experiencing any of the negative emotions that normally make pain so terrible to us. For example, much of our suffering comes from anger, resentment, and self-pity. But Jesus refused to respond to pain in any of these ways, and as a result His pain was much more pure. Therefore, Peter, referring to Christ’s attitude toward pain, told his fellow Christians, “Arm yourselves also with the same mind” (1 Peter 4:1).
We may find it difficult to do this, but it is also possible Pleasure In the midst of pain. “In this you rejoice greatly,” said Peter, “though now for a little while, if necessary, you have suffered many trials, so that the truth of your faith may receive praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The key to this thinking is this: Seeing pain in the background of liberation.
“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional” (Anonymous).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com AreYouaChristian.com
