The Gift of Suffering

“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have” (Philippians 1:29-30).

I’m not gonna lie. I love getting gifts. Christmas. Birthday. Anniversary. Fathers’ Day. Arbor Day (okay, nobody’s ever given me a present for Arbor Day but a guy can dream, can’t he?). Wrapping paper. Bows. Ribbons. Gift bags. It doesn’t really matter. There’s nothing quite like someone you love going has thought enough of you to bring you something you will like. So it’s really cool that our God is so incredibly generous. He gives and He gives and He gives. He gives us life. He gives us food. He gives us His Son. He gives us a supernatural inheritance that would make Warren Buffett blush. 

But God gives us something else that we’re not so crazy about at first. He gives us the privilege of suffering for the sake of Jesus. Suffering? A gift? At first glance, that’s kinda like opening that three-pack of underwear as your first present on Christmas morning. But Paul tells his friends back in Philippi that this is one of the coolest presents you’ll ever unwrap. They saw him suffer with their own eyes when he first rolled into their town. And now he lets them know Jesus has given him the gift of suffering for his Savior in Rome. 

The apostle starts by reminding his readers of the incredible privilege God has given the followers of Jesus of believing in Him. “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should…believe in Him” (v29). God has given you the gift of trusting in Jesus. This is a big deal. A VERY big deal. The only other option we have to be saved is through perfect obedience. Not only do we have to NOT sin but God’s standard says we must flawlessly follow every one of His rules and commands. And if you’re cocky enough to think that’s a walk in the park like the rich, young hipster (Mt 19:16-20), Jesus’ kid brother makes it clear that if we slip up on one little law, we’ve violated them all (James 2:10). Okay, so option one isn’t really an option for me. 

That’s why God has given me the gift of believing in Jesus. I can place my trust in what He did on my behalf. Christ lived the perfect life that I failed to live. He died the death on the cross for my sin that I should have died. He rose to a spectacular new life that I don’t deserve. Jesus does for me what I could never dream of doing for myself. A few hundred years ago, a dude named Martin Luther called this the Great Exchange. We get Christ’s spotless obedience in an incredibly lopsided trade for our sin and rebellion (2Cor 5:21). Here in his letter to the Philippians, Paul reminds us what an incredible gift this is. The man from Tarsus uses the verb form of the noun that translates as grace. Charizomai means to show great favor or extend an overwhelming blessing. God has given us the gift of Jesus (2Cor 9:15). He’s given us the gift of trusting in His Son’s perfect life and substitutionary death. Talk about the gift that keeps on giving!

Did you ever open one present and then the giver tells you there’s another one that goes along with it? That’s exactly what Paul does here. Not only does God gives us the gift of believing in Jesus but he also gives us the gift to “suffer for His sake” (v29). If you’re like me, you’re checking the tag on the wrapping paper to see if you’ve accidentally opened somebody else’s present. Nope, this one’s for me. Suffering? As a gift? I’m pretty sure I’d rather get a gift card to Target. We might not see it now, but the apostle wants us to know that this is really one of the best things we’ll ever open.

Suffering for placing our trust in Jesus is a huge theme throughout the Bible. Christ Himself made it a key point of His most famous sermon. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Mt 5:12). James wanted to his Brother’s followers know that God uses hard times to deepen our faith. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-3). The disciple Jesus called Rocky made the connection between our suffering and our Savior’s. “When you do good and suffer for it you endure, that is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps” (1Pet 2:20-21). And later in this same letter, Paul makes it clear that sharing in Jesus’ sufferings is a lock to “attain the resurrection of the dead” (Phil 3:10-11). Suffering for Jesus really is the gift that keeps on giving.

Paul knows from personal experience what a powerful present suffering really is. Let’s just say he wouldn’t give his first trip to Philippi five stars. In Acts, the apostle’s traveling companion Dr. Luke goes into detail about those crazy days in Macedonia (Acts 16:12-40). When God used Paul to not only free a young woman from human trafficking and shut down a profitable (and “prophet-able”) business, a riot broke out like something we’ve seen in Ferguson and Baltimore. Local merchants charged Paul and his posse with disturbing the peace and practicing weird religious customs. They publicly flog the apostle and his sidekick Silas and throw them in the slammer. God used an earthquake to open the cell doors and unlock their restraints. But the Lord opened more than the jail doors. He also threw open the warden’s heart and gave him and his entire family the gift of knowing Jesus. The Philippians were eyewitnesses to Paul’s suffering. He reminds them that “the same conflict that you saw I had” is happening again in Rome (v30). 

Two thousand years later, this is a reminder that Jesus won’t waste one ounce of your suffering for placing your trust in Him. He won’t drop one drip of your tears. Now let’s be clear about what it means to suffer for our Savior. We’re not talking about enduring the pain of first world problems. You’re not suffering for your faith when your wifi goes on the fritz. It doesn’t mean getting pulled over for speeding when you’re late for work. We suffer for Jesus when we face opposition for our faith. Chances are ISIS won’t be rolling into the ‘burbs anytime soon. But in 21st century America, following Jesus isn’t exactly what all the cool kids are doing. If and when your beliefs become somebody’s punchline on Facebook, that’s the perfect time to love them unconditionally. That’s the gift Somebody gave you.