DEVOTIONAL INSIGHTS & REFLECTIONS

Suffering - November 5

We shouldn't seek out suffering; however, when and if it comes----we can endure it through the strength of dependence upon God.
Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I serve Him." ~Job 13:15

The Apostle Paul knew the value of suffering "for Christ:"

Knowing Christ Above All Else

…and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death, so that I may somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead.… ~Philippians 3:9-11 (Berean Study Bible)

Suffering refines us, prepares us for service. Prior to Jesus' ministry on earth after His baptism by John the Baptist, He was led by the Spirit out into the desert for a time of prayer and fasting and temptation. He was tempted by the devil at least three times that we know about over the course of 40 days. Each time, He overcame that temptation with scripture. (Read Matthew 4:1-11.)

The Lord says, My people shall be a tried people.

For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined. ~Psalm 66:10

Sometimes suffering is required for us to learn something we can learn in no other way. The flesh is lively and wants its own way. Suffering teaches us to bring our own wants and desires into submission to the will of God. Suffering "crucifies the flesh and its desires."
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer. ~Romans 12:12

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.… James 1:1-3 (Berean Study Bible)

...and in the King James Version: "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations..." ~James 1:2

Oh, how He loves us.