Fellowship in Suffering

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. –Philippians 3:10-11

When you read what Paul is saying in the above quote, what do you hear?  Is Paul saying that he wants to be in an abusive or dysfunctional relationship?  Is Paul saying that he’s masochistic or suicidal?  I think not.  What I hear Paul saying that apart from suffering, he could not know the heart of God.

Has someone ever said to you, “Don’t pray for patience—you might get it!”  We laugh after the warning because we know that there’s truth in the statement.  What they are saying is we learn patience by being put in a place of discomfort or suffering.  However, if we ponder this advice as Christians, what we are really hearing is “don’t pray for fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives.”

In our fast-paced, self servicing world, we are being told that we can have anything we want right now.  Even commercial farmers are using GMO’s to bring about rapid results.  Anyone who is a purist would tell you that quick and unnatural is not the best way to go.

Growing up in the LORD is an intentional choice.  There are no shortcuts.  Jesus warned His disciples that, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33).  In that same conversation, Jesus also said that if you want the fruit of the spirit, you must grow in, or be connected to Me.  This is where I hear Paul responding to Jesus.  I hear Paul saying, if I must suffer, I want to be attached to Jesus.

Since I am a bottom line kind of guy, this is what I hear: do I want a life of ease and comfort without God or do I want a life of trouble with God?  I want my cake and eat it, too.  However, if I had to make a choice…