Joy in Suffering

Philippians 4:4-9  "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ..."

 James 1:2-4  " Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

We are told in the Bible we are to rejoice in everything, even hard times.  There are many things we endure in life from the years of teasing of a sibling, the chronic toothache or arthritis,  difficulties in a marriage and so many more.  Some things we put up with, some we endure and some we even endure with patience, but to endure with joy  seems to be something much more difficult.  Enduring with joy seems to me something that is only brought on through trial.  I think of three people when I think of enduring with joy.  The first was a brother in Christ in my church, Joe, who is now home in  glory.  Before he was diagnosed with cancer and during that trial he always exuded a peaceful, quiet, and joyful spirit.  Even in his times of sure pain those could be seen on his face when he spoke of the Lord and knowing he was where God would have him be.

The second is Joni Eareckson Tada, a woman older than I who has paralyzed from the neck down when in her teens and later in life developed breast cancer.  The story of her life is one of growing in her faith and seeing how her paralysis was not about herself but about God's purposes.  Many is the life she has influenced as she has shared the great joy she has in the Lord.

The third, is a man brought to faith on the mission field where my family served when I was young.  I keep this picture of Araiah on my mantle so I am always reminded of what he went through and how he always radiated joy.  When he converted he faced immediate persecution the like of which we can only imagine.  His fields were burned, attempts made to get his wife to desert him, animals killed, beatings, and imprisonment.  During this time he prayed for persecution if God would use that to bring the people to Himself (50 years later there is still great persecution and church growth in that land).  In the most horrible of dungeon experiences he could be heard singing God's praises and speaking of Him to his captive audience.   When released he fell face down to the ground and with tears running down his face rejoiced that he had been counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.   When facing a firing squad, after four friends had been shot, with joy on his face he informed his captors that all they could do to him was to send him to his glorious home, but to know he had the blood of Christ on him and that would be on them.  He was left to live.    In all the time I knew him I remembered this face, for despite extreme suffering his eyes shown forth his joy.  I can look at that face and see Christ.  Oh that one day it might be said of me that the joy of Christ shown behind all the sorrows and pains!

I am not a theologian, but I think I can safely say that deep seated abounding joy in affliction, comes in the affliction.  It is not something that is just flung over us.  It requires searching the Scripture, being constant in prayer and growth in the knowledge of who our God is as He is the author of true joy.  It comes from an in-depth knowledge of where your hope lies.  As the Heidelberg Catechism says, when asked, "What is your only comfort in life and death? A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him."

John Piper says:   I have never heard anyone say, "The deepest and rarest and most satisfying joys of my life have come in times of extended ease and earthly comfort." Nobody says that. It isn't true. What's true is what Samuel Rutherford said when he was put in the cellars of affliction: "The Great King keeps his wine there"—not in the courtyard where the sun shines. What's true is what Charles Spurgeon said: "They who dive in the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls."

I have finished one of the most gruesome chemotherapy experiences I have had yet.  My blood counts are finally rising, and though very weak and tired, I see the light at the end of the tunnel.  If the counts are high enough this Wednesday I begin all over again.   I do ask for ease of symptoms this time around and for safety from side effects, but mostly I ask that I might learn more of abundant joy!