"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you" (1 Peter 4:12).
Alexander Nisbet wrote, “However fiery the trials of the Lord’s people be, there is no reason why they should seem strange to them, seeing they are so frequently forewarned of them in Scripture, considering that the best of the saints, and the Captain of our salvation, have gone through trials as hot, Hebrews 12:1–3, and especially that they are assured of One with them in the hottest furnace of affliction that it shall not consume them, Isaiah 43:2, 5. Therefore, they should not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, as though some strange thing had happened to them.”
Even though we shouldn’t be surprised by suffering, we often are because we grow comfortable and even a little lax during times of ease. We become secure about our finances, our health, our life, our freedom to proclaim the Gospel. Then one day something shatters that peaceful existence, and we are shocked, perplexed, and even angry that God would disrupt our lives so unexpectedly. Yet, the apostle tells us in 1 Peter 4:12 that we should not be surprised by such things because they are common to the people of God, who are, in this life, a people of suffering. But why do we suffer? What is the purpose of our trials? And what comfort do we have to survive even the most tragic times of our lives? Using R. C. Sproul’s series, Surprised by Suffering, we will try to answer these questions during the next few studies as we take a deeper look into suffering and its relation to the Christian.
In all of Paul’s discourses and the writings of the other apostles, we do not find the element of surprise over suffering. Rather, they knew, as we should know, that suffering has been a part of the life of every believer since the fall of man. Adam suffered the toil of living in banishment. Eve, and all women after her, painfully endured the trials of child-bearing, David suffered at the hands of hostile foes. Job lost his wealth and his family. Jesus Christ suffered persecution and finally death on a cross. Can we, then, be so surprised when we suffer, too? Peter tells us that we shouldn’t, but that we should rejoice because we share the sufferings of Christ; and when His glory is revealed, we will be filled with a joy that cannot be compared to our sufferings.
Psalm 22 is a prophecy of the sufferings of Christ. Meditate on this psalm today. What is the emotional state of the psalmist? Where does he go for relief? What gives him confidence to face his trials? Compare how he begins the psalm and how he ends it. Even though you might be enduring fear and pain, praise God with the psalmist today.
