Saturday, September 23, 2006
Colossians 1:24, 28 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you . . . Him [Christ] we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
A FINE AND PLEASANT MISERY?
OK, I admit it, I am a Patrick McManus fan. You may recognize today's title as coming from one of his collections of short stories taken from his life growing up in northern Idaho, involving such colorful characters as Rancid Crabtree and Retch Sweenee. It was the camping experience he was thinking of when he wrote: "Still, sometimes, I have a nostalgic yearning for some of that old-fashioned misery, and it came to me that what we need nowadays is a misery kit. There could be an aerosol can for spraying a blast of cold air down your back every once in a while. . . . There might even be a box of mixed insects -- yellow jackets, mosquitoes . . . but maybe that would be carrying misery a bit far."
Patrick McManus had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek in writing of camping's "pleasant misery." But not so with Paul when he wrote: "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you." His latest experience was that he was imprisoned in Rome all because of Christ. It was not just because of a few pesky bugs that Paul had suffered, there were times when his life had been in danger!
How could Paul speak of "rejoicing in his sufferings?" We would agree with the writer of Hebrews: "no chastening seems to be joyful for the present." Just what does Paul mean?
Already when God had appeared to Paul on the way to Damascus, He had a plan for Paul. "He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel." And Paul put his all into doing just that. He "became all things to all men that he might by any means save some."
It was in connection with this Gospel ministry that Paul found himself faced with many miseries. He suffered. He was persecuted. Not because there were sufferings that he had to go through in addition to what Jesus had suffered, but rather he faced troubles and trial because he was a follower of the Savior. As Jesus Himself had said, "If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you." (John 15)
And because the sufferings "marked" him as a follower of the Savior, Paul was happy to endure them. Through it all he was being given the opportunity to "teach every man in all wisdom."
Can we find pleasure in misery? The thought of enjoying suffering for suffering's sake may well be distasteful to us, as it should be. But may God lead us to join Paul in enduring with joy any hardships that lie in our path for the sake of our Savior, knowing that they may well give us more opportunities to witness to the great salvation of our God!
