Worthy of Suffering

I really had one verse stick out to me today. Not that everything else I read was bad. This one verse just really floored me. I know that I have read it before. This time though it just hit me.
Acts 5:41
Then they left the presence of the counsel, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
The KJV says "counted worthy to suffer shame for his name."
Reading along in this chapter I was just thunderstruck. They actually were joyful about suffering for the name of Jesus. I started looking at the references that were attached to this verse and I was even more surprised. I mean every person who has attended church for any length of time knows that there are verses that talk about suffering for Christ and persecution but the concept of rejoicing while doing it is not something we wish to discuss often.
Then I read 1 Peter 4:13 that says, "but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed."
Verse 16 of that same chapter says, "Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not b ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name." When we rejoice in suffering then God is most pleased and glorified. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever (Westminster Catechism). What a thought. It is easy to rejoice when everything is going good. We prove we really love God when persecution and struggles come and we are still rejoicing. Do I rejoice in suffering? Do I count myself worthy that he has chosen me to suffer for him? Do I feel privileged when I am struggling because he thought me worthy to handle it and bring glory to his name? These are the questions I am pondering this evening. The Lord never gives us more than we can handle. I always say that The Lord must think that I am stronger than I think I am to allow me to go through some of the things I have gone through. I have come through them all. But my grief comes in that I sometime have viewed my suffering not as a privilege but a burden. My thinking on this needs to change. I need to look at every thing in my life as a chance to bring glory to his name. What better way to bring glory to him than to share my struggles with others to encourage them and truly give him the glory and honor for where I am today and who I am.

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