The Call to Joy and Pain

I've started reading Ajith Fernando's book "The Call to Joy and Pain"; I realized that contemporary Singaporean Christians (me included) often do not have a well formed biblical concept of suffering. Journey with me the next few weeks as I read and reflect on the role of pain and suffering in the Life of a Christian.


Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:24-29 (ESV)


Fernando reflecting on how joy and suffering come together says,

One of the interesting things about the New Testament record is that suffering is hardly ever mentioned without also a mention of the blessings of suffering. And often the blessing mentioned is joy. I was able to locate eighteen different places in the New Testament where suffering and joy are found together. The texts I found making this connection between suffering and joy were in the Gospels, the book of Acts, and the epistles. We also know that through Revelation may not mention this connection explicitly, it is implied there.

So according to the Bible, joy and pain can coexist. Christians don't talk about suffering unless they also talk about the joy of suffering. It is the joy that makes the cross worthwhile, for it gives us the strength to bear it. As Nehemiah said, "The Joy of the LORD is your strength" (Neh. 8:10).

I once heard David Sittion, the founder of To Every Tribe Mission, tell how when he was a teenager a ninety-year-old Missionary spoke at the youth fellowship of his church. He had been a missionary for seventy-two years. At the start of his talk he kept saying the same thing over and over again. It was something like, "I want you to remember this. You can forget everything I say, but don't forget this." He kept saying something like this for about five minutes, and the young people were getting impatient, wishing he would go ahead and say it. Finally he said what he wanted to say: "The Joy of the Lord is your strength. when the joy goes, the strength goes." Having said that, he sat down!

That is the basic affirmation of this book. Joy and suffering are necessary aspects of Christianity. And they can and must exist together. - Ajith Fernando, The Call to Joy and Pain

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Grace and Peace
Ollie
Apr 2009