Read this in preparation for going through the 3 modules of You Have Need of Endurance.

“Do we really believe God has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness? Our apostolic task is to bring an unwanted and unwelcome message to an indifferent world, and it is a message we can only bring in the same proportion that we can demonstrate it.” – Art Katz

In a world that is fallen and broken; in a world that is ruled by “the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2); in a world that hates Jesus and therefore will hate those who love him (John 15:18); in a world in which we must pass through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22); in a world that killed Jesus; it is impossible to follow him and not encounter suffering. If we have an apostolic calling, compelled by apostolic passion, then apostolic suffering, in some manner, will be our expectation. We cannot confront the principalities and powers of the air who are at work in all who disobey Jesus with the truth that Jesus is Lord of all and not encounter troubles and suffering. The suffering of this present age will always precede the glory that we will receive with him (Romans 8:17). This is not to be morose or to be “doom and gloom” but to embrace biblical reality. We are assured of his company along the way (“I will never leave you or forsake you”) through the indwelling Spirit and the community of his people.

Those with an apostolic calling understand that suffering is a strategy of God’s to make known his infinite love and humility through Christ.

…God designs that the suffering of his ambassadors is one essential means in the triumphant spread of the Good News among all the peoples of the world. I am saying more than the obvious fact that suffering is a result of faithful obedience in spreading the gospel…I am saying that this suffering is part of God’s strategy for making known to the world who Christ is, how he loves, and how much he is worth. (Piper, Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ)

Suffering and persecution are a strategy for advancing the gospel, as well as, a result of following Jesus. Nik Ripken, who has spent years learning at the feet of those from the persecuted church around the world says, “…persecution and suffering and sacrifice are necessary parts of His ultimate strategy, even today.” The contemplation of the beauty and excellence of Jesus in the gospel amidst the suffering of this present age means learning to see suffering as a means for revealing that beauty and excellence. The cross and resurrection of Jesus are the prism through which this is seen. Therefore an important goal in our formation is to train the disposition and response of our hearts to suffering that reflects the unsearchable riches of Christ and the promise that, “… for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).” We know in whom we have believed and trust that if he is for us, who can be against us? Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. The Romans 8 passage is an incredible lens through which to view our suffering in order to train the disposition of our hearts. It outlines what Chrysostom called the “hermeneutical (interpretive) boundaries” that we must stay within in order to see and to comprehend more clearly how God is at work in this present age. These boundaries are:

  1. The nature of God’s character. “You are good and do good” Ps. 119:64  God is good. He does all things righteously and justly. His nature is good and loving and all he does is good and loving. Do we believe that? God’s goodness and love is most clearly defined in the cross of Jesus. Love and goodness is not defined by us but by what God has revealed to us about his goodness. He is working all things – even our suffering – for good.
  2. The incomprehensibility of his providence. God’s ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are than our thoughts (Is. 55:9). We are not God. His thoughts are unsearchable. We are not his counselors. He does not consult us. He is ordering all things according to the purpose of his will. We must, in humility, bow before his providence and trust his goodness to take what was meant for evil and turn it to good. This will not be on our timetable and it may not be in our lifetime. But he is working all things together…according to his purpose.
  3. The guarantee of final deliverance. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).” The promise is that we will not perish but will inherit eternal life if our hope and trust is in him. Paul wrote to Timothy “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom ( 2 Timothy 4:18).” Deliverance, not perishing is our guarantee when we belong to Jesus. We will ultimately be brought into his kingdom to reign with him. Eternity must be our perspective.

When we begin to stray and to question whether God is indeed good, or think that we understand better how God ought to carry out his purposes in the world, or lose hope that he will deliver us, we lose resilience and our ability to endure when we experience suffering and circumstances that send us reeling. Let us train the disposition of our hearts to remain within these boundaries.