1 Peter 4:19: Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
For the follower of Jesus Christ, the path He takes us on can be puzzling at times. Our difficult and painful experiences sometimes challenge what we believe about God’s character and His care for us. What we understand about His character is largely drawn from His Word. We know His Word tells us that God is love (1 John 4:16), God is good (Nahum 1:7), and God is merciful (Psalm 116:5). Those aspects of His character are welcomed truths. However, today’s verse, if taken by itself, can cause a shift in the foundation of our faith. How can a loving, good, and merciful God’s will include suffering?
We’ll provide a couple of answers to this very understandable and important question for the believer. The first answer has to do with spiritual warfare. Behind the scenes of our visual perspective, there is a raging battle going on of good vs. evil. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, Satan and his nasty minions have been causing havoc and wreaking pain and destruction on God’s creation. This includes His greatest creation – humanity. We are the crown jewel of God’s creative works, and Satan hates anything God loves. Thankfully, God, out of His love, goodness, and mercy has not abandoned us (although it may feel like it sometimes) and has been fighting off Satan and his forces ever since their first arrival on Earth.
If you don’t buy into the spiritual warfare of good vs. evil, you don’t’ need to look any further than what happened to God’s only begotten Son during His first visit some 2,000 years ago. Jesus is God, so He is good. Throughout His first time here, He displayed relentless goodness to those He encountered. What happened to Him? He was falsely accused, He was beaten, and He was crucified. This is the greatest and most blatant evidence of the battle that rages on of good vs. evil. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), so His goodness remains undefiled. Therefore, since His will is for us to follow Him, we should not be surprised that we experience suffering in our service.
The second explanation to help you get your arms around the idea that God’s will could be for you to suffer is, to coin the opening line of Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life” – “it’s not about you.” This argument demands a deeper and broader understanding of our purpose as Christians. One of Satan’s most effective strategies is to “numb” us from the presence of evil. He does this by tempting the weaker and faithless minds and hearts to not only partake in those temptations, but also become proponents of them. Their advocacy can become so vigilant that what they are pushing for can make it seem that their behavior has become the social norm. Therefore, for those who are in agreement with what the Word of God says, they will be ridiculed as being outdated and haters of progress and people.
Jesus was a sacrifice of goodness that, via His resurrection, was the proof that good will ultimately win out over evil. Jesus suffered for goodness’ sake, so that others would see His goodness and turn to Him for forgiveness and salvation. Therefore, as a follower of Christ, so should we expect that through our suffering and keeping the faith, people will see the strength of goodness and look for where we would find such a power and faith. Victory in suffering is an awesome testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ultimately, it is the will of God for all to repent and come to know Him (2 Peter 3:9). Your remaining faithful amidst your suffering could very well be the method to which He reaches unbelievers. Suffering is hard, but there is a glorious promise to those who are suffering. Romans 8:18 assures us, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Amen.