Great Comfort in our Discomfort
How will I handle suffering and the discomfort it brings?
This is one of the most important questions for all disciples of Jesus. Over and over again, the gospels record the difference between fair-weather followers and deeply-dedicated disciples. Some fall away when tribulation and persecution arise “on account of the word” (Matt. 13:20-21). The rich young ruler refused to inherit eternal life at the cost of his riches (Luke 18:18-25). Many followers turned away from Jesus’s hard sayings (John 6:60).
But others left their homes and followed Jesus (Lk 18:28). The twelve walked with him into danger (Jn 11:16). Mary poured out all her costly oil on Jesus’s feet (Jn 12:3). After Jesus’s ascension, the apostles rejoiced that they were “counted worthy to suffer dishonor” for his name (Acts 5:41).
How we respond to suffering, including the cost of following Christ, will ultimately prove our faith, or prove it false.
When Suffering Comes
In Desiring God, John Piper points out both the danger and the opportunity that comes with suffering. He says:
All experiences of suffering in the path of Chrisitian obedience, whether from persecution or sickness or accident, have this in common: they all threaten our faith in the goodness of God and tempt us to leave the path of obedience. Therefore, every triumph of faith and all perseverance in obedience are testimonies to the goodness of God and the preciousness of Christ —whether the enemy is sickness, Satan, sin, or sabotage (267).
Suffering threatens our faith. Through it, Satan wants us to question God. “If you let this happen, God, you must not be loving, good, powerful, or trustworthy.” Suffering threatens our obedience. Through it, Satan wants us to put conditions on when and how we will obey. “I will obey when it’s easy, or with frowns and clenched-fists.”
Suffering also manifests our faith. Through it, God makes visible to everyone our rock-solid confidence in him. “You have promised you will never leave me, even unto death.” Through it, God grows our capacity for obedience, no matter what. “There are no circumstances that prevent me from doing your will, God, because you have given me your promises and your Spirit.”
Wanted: Solid Comfort
When our faith is tested by suffering, we need a comfort that doesn’t come from being comfortable. As Tish Warren Harrison says, Christians need a comfort that “[looks] unflinchingly at loss and death” and still holds fast (Prayer in the Night, 18).
We need the comfort David describes in Psalm 23. Consider his response to a troubled-heart situation:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)
David’s comfort in deep discomfort is the rock-solid promise that God is with him. When confronted by the valley of the shadow of death, he doesn’t run from it or from God. He walks through the valley without fear. God’s presence, with his Shepherd’s rod and staff, provides a comfort deeper than any danger. The One who leads David in right paths will not abandon him in the valley. God enters into it with him, and for him. Jesus, David’s greater Son, walked through the valley of death, and came out the other side victorious, to bring David (and us) home again, safe at last (1 Peter 3:18).
Though we often want to find comfort from the promise that God will keep anything bad from happening to us or to those we love, God gives no such promise. Instead, he promises Himself in every sorrow, every discomfort. Psalm 23 reminds us that our only comfort in life and in death is that we belong-–body and soul-–to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ. And what a comfort this is (Heidelberg Catecheism, Q1)!
With Christ and For Christ in Discomfort
Uncomfortable as it may be, every troubled-heart situation is an opportunity for us to prove that our hope is only Jesus and that he is worthy of our trust, even unto death. He is with us to the end of the age.
Just as Christ is with us and for us, John Piper reminds us that our suffering is with him and for him:
All suffering of every kind that we endure in the path of our Christian calling is a suffering “with Christ” and “for Christ.” With him, in the sense that the suffering comes to us as we are walking with him by faith and in the sense that it is endured in the strength he supplies through his sympathizing high-priestly ministry (Heb. 4:15). For him, in the sense that the suffering tests and proves our allegiance to his goodness and power and in the sense that it reveals his worth as an all-sufficient compensation and prize” (Desiring God, 267-8).
What a great comfort it is to know that in all our discomfort, Jesus is with us, and we get to show by our response that we are with him, too.
How will we respond to suffering and the discomfort it brings?
Not with stubborn resolve. Not with paralyzing uncertainty. But with God’s help, we respond with joyful, fear-fighting faith that follows our Shepherd wherever he leads, because He is with us. Whatever happens, we shall not want.
Further Resources (click the titles):
How Do I Overcome My Fear of Death? APJ
Let Fear Deliver You From Fear