Rejoicing in Suffering: Embracing Joy Through Trials
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We can rejoice in suffering, we can rejoice in suffering. Look at verse 24. It says, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I'm filling up what's lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I think this is one of the most difficult commands in Scripture. This call for us to rejoice as we're going through suffering. I mean, let's be honest. Most of our natural reaction to suffering is not joy, right? If anything, you know, nobody's waking up and praying like, Lord, just send me more hardships and more trials today, right? When we suffer, we usually feel like there's something wrong. [00:31:22] (40 seconds)
Paul is saying that his suffering is for the sake of others. He's saying it's for the Colossians. He's saying it's for the church. He endures persecution so that the gospel can spread. And his imprisonment and his hardship, it leads to this unprecedented growth for the church. I mean, Paul's imprisonment is what allows him to write this letter to the Colossians that we're reading today, right? And so many other letters that he wrote to the church, like Philippians and Ephesians, things that have been strengthening the church for 2,000 plus years. I mean, Paul's suffering helped the church to grow. [00:37:37] (35 seconds)
Paul sees suffering as the pathway to faithful ministry for Christ. We'll come back to that idea, so hold on to it. But he's also, I think, saying another thing. I want you to notice that by his suffering, Paul sees himself as experiencing a persecution that was meant for Christ. In Acts 9 verse 4, Jesus confronts Paul on the road to Damascus and he says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Now, in that instance, if you know the story, well, Paul, he's going to persecute followers of Jesus in the early church. [00:40:04] (31 seconds)
And so the idea is that by suffering for the gospel, Paul, he was actually experiencing some of the same things that Christ experienced, right? He's experiencing the persecution of Christ. He learns to identify with Christ, going through some of the same things he went through. And he starts to grow in his love for Christ as well, because now he starts to experience just a taste of the hardships that Christ endured for his people. [00:40:43] (28 seconds)
Paul rejoices in suffering because he knows it's not meaningless. He knows it's not just an obstacle or something he has to get through or endure. And my prayer is that we, like Paul, will also rejoice in the sufferings that we experience because we recognize that they're a pathway to faithful ministry, and they're a pathway to deeper intimacy with Jesus. Let's dwell on that first idea for a moment, that suffering is a pathway to faithful ministry for Christ. Throughout history, faithful ministry has always come at a cost. [00:41:59] (31 seconds)
Paul, he sees ministry as this intense and sometimes agonizing battle that requires endurance and that requires perseverance. It's like any athlete craning for victory. A runner who's preparing for the Olympics, trains daily and pushes their body to the limit. Their goal is to win the race. And they see that prize as such great value. they're willing to endure hardship for the sake of it. They joyfully, in many cases, enter into that hardship in pursuit of it. And so by that striving, right, we see joy. [01:01:16] (34 seconds)
Paul's perspective on ministry is much like that. He knows serving Christ requires striving and sacrifice and endurance, but he says by that striving, we receive the prize. Philippians 3, 12 to 15, puts it this way for us. He says, I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. I don't consider that I've made it my own, but one thing I do, I forget what lies behind. I strain forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And those of us who are mature think in this way. [01:02:42] (36 seconds)
In our striving, we're promised a strength that comes from Christ. Look at the rest of verse 29. He says, for this I toil, struggling with all of his energy that he powerfully works, within me. And this is the key point. Paul is saying that his weakness, his suffering, is the very thing that allows him to experience Christ's strength. His suffering brings him closer to Jesus because he learns to depend on him more deeply. And the same thing is true for us. I can't tell you how many times I've experienced this in my own life. [01:03:14] (32 seconds)
Paul sees suffering not as something that separates us from Christ. It's something that draws us near to him. 2 Corinthians 12 9, Jesus said to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Paul, his suffering, it teaches him total dependence on Christ. And it should do the same. When life is easy, I think we tend to rely a lot on ourselves. But suffering forces us to recognize our limitations and to turn to Christ and to cling to him and depend on him and his grace for what only he can do. [01:05:03] (42 seconds)
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Paul is saying that his suffering is for the sake of others. He's saying it's for the Colossians. He's saying it's for the church. He endures persecution so that the gospel can spread. And his imprisonment and his hardship, it leads to this unprecedented growth for the church. I mean, Paul's imprisonment is what allows him to write this letter to the Colossians that we're reading today, right? And so many other letters that he wrote to the church, like Philippians and Ephesians, things that have been strengthening the church for 2,000 plus years. I mean, Paul's suffering helped the church to grow. [00:37:37] (35 seconds)
Paul sees suffering as the pathway to faithful ministry for Christ. We'll come back to that idea, so hold on to it. But he's also, I think, saying another thing. I want you to notice that by his suffering, Paul sees himself as experiencing a persecution that was meant for Christ. In Acts 9 verse 4, Jesus confronts Paul on the road to Damascus and he says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Now, in that instance, if you know the story, well, Paul, he's going to persecute followers of Jesus in the early church. [00:40:04] (31 seconds)
And so the idea is that by suffering for the gospel, Paul, he was actually experiencing some of the same things that Christ experienced, right? He's experiencing the persecution of Christ. He learns to identify with Christ, going through some of the same things he went through. And he starts to grow in his love for Christ as well, because now he starts to experience just a taste of the hardships that Christ endured for his people. [00:40:43] (28 seconds)
Paul rejoices in suffering because he knows it's not meaningless. He knows it's not just an obstacle or something he has to get through or endure. And my prayer is that we, like Paul, will also rejoice in the sufferings that we experience because we recognize that they're a pathway to faithful ministry, and they're a pathway to deeper intimacy with Jesus. Let's dwell on that first idea for a moment, that suffering is a pathway to faithful ministry for Christ. Throughout history, faithful ministry has always come at a cost. [00:41:59] (31 seconds)
Paul, he sees ministry as this intense and sometimes agonizing battle that requires endurance and that requires perseverance. It's like any athlete craning for victory. A runner who's preparing for the Olympics, trains daily and pushes their body to the limit. Their goal is to win the race. And they see that prize as such great value. they're willing to endure hardship for the sake of it. They joyfully, in many cases, enter into that hardship in pursuit of it. And so by that striving, right, we see joy. [01:01:16] (34 seconds)
Paul's perspective on ministry is much like that. He knows serving Christ requires striving and sacrifice and endurance, but he says by that striving, we receive the prize. Philippians 3, 12 to 15, puts it this way for us. He says, I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. I don't consider that I've made it my own, but one thing I do, I forget what lies behind. I strain forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And those of us who are mature think in this way. [01:02:42] (36 seconds)
In our striving, we're promised a strength that comes from Christ. Look at the rest of verse 29. He says, for this I toil, struggling with all of his energy that he powerfully works, within me. And this is the key point. Paul is saying that his weakness, his suffering, is the very thing that allows him to experience Christ's strength. His suffering brings him closer to Jesus because he learns to depend on him more deeply. And the same thing is true for us. I can't tell you how many times I've experienced this in my own life. [01:03:14] (32 seconds)
Paul sees suffering not as something that separates us from Christ. It's something that draws us near to him. 2 Corinthians 12 9, Jesus said to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Paul, his suffering, it teaches him total dependence on Christ. And it should do the same. When life is easy, I think we tend to rely a lot on ourselves. But suffering forces us to recognize our limitations and to turn to Christ and to cling to him and depend on him and his grace for what only he can do. [01:05:03] (42 seconds)
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