For
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of
the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath
subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of
God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together
until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits
of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but
hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it - Romans
8:18-25 (KJV).
PREAMBLE
After
reading Romans 8:18-25, the following truths emerged:- Sufferings reveal our real values, the stuffs we are really made of.
- Sufferings manifest us for the world to see.
- God allows us to be subjected to different shades of sufferings in the hope that they would yield glorious fruits. Romans 5:3-5 highlights what some of these fruits:
And not only so, but we
glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works out patience, and
patience, produces experience while experience, produces hope. Hope, however,
does not make one ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost who is given to us.
4 4. Sufferings are not peculiar
to us because, “The whole creation
travails and groans in
pains.” Suffering is universal.
5 5. “We are saved by hope….” This implies
that if we remain faithful to God in our
individual “sufferings,” the glory, which is the by-product of
our endurances will become
our lots and portions.1 Corinthians 2:9 testifies with a touch of finality
and hint of
conclusion when it says,
But as it is written, Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
An
avalanche of glory will envelope those who live in consonance with the Will of
God, those who triumph over trials and tribulations of life.
Let me affirm
without equivocation that there is a “sense” in every present “nonsense” in
your life. What we call sufferings
are sometimes fortunes in work
clothes. If we would appreciate the refining values of the challenges that
confront us, we would gladly request God to give us grace to endure them so
that we will savour their gains.
I
want you to appreciate the fact that the ultimate
measure of a person is not in moments of comfort and convenience, but in
moments of challenge and controversy. Jesus saw the glory that lay ahead of
Him and endured His Cross, despising the shame (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus knew that
every suffering (aside criminal or self-induced) would naturally yield its own
glory. At Luke
24:26, Jesus said matter-of-factly, “Ought not Christ to have suffered these
things, and then enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:26).
This
year’s theme, “NO CROSS, NO GLORY” is
a call to brace up to the challenges of everyday life. This year’s theme
reminds me of the following general truths – if there is :
1. “No Cross, there will be No Crown.”
2. “No Test, there will be No Testimony.”
3. “No Pain, there will be No Gain.”
4. “Every Prize has a Price.”
It
is an incontrovertible fact that people all over the world are going through
difficult times and challenging moments in their daily lives. You may be a
member of this global club of those who are going through the mills: you are a
student in the Department of Pain, Faculty of Difficulties at the University of Hard Knocks.
Sufferings
are painful times when a minute refuses to die after sixty seconds - times of
heart-breaks and uncertainties; times when our days are filled with questions.
These are moments when tears, deep thinking, doubts and confusion become our
companions. In these times, we are tempted to resign and to bow out of life. If
this scenario describes you, I want you to appreciate the fact that this could
be but a process in your personal transformation. What you consider stumbling
blocks could actually be your stepping stones.
Life
on planet earth is not a restaurant but a war field. In this battle, you either
become a victor or a victim. In life, there are battles to be fought at all
fronts. Incidentally, this battle commenced at conception where a single sperm cell
(you) had to struggle with millions of other sperm cells to emerge victorious.
In other words, we are all wired by nature to struggle throughout life. This
battle will not end until life on this plane terminates at the grave (cf. Job
14:1). One battle will naturally yield to another; a victory won is a natural
attraction for another battle (cf. Luke 4:13). Incidentally, one battle won
prepares you to fight another. Biblical David is classical example of this. At
I Samuel 17: 32-37, David said:
… Let no
man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this
Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this
Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war
from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep,
and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went
out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he
arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy
servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine
shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and
out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this
Philistine.
Every
adversity of life has in itself a corresponding weight of advantage. One of my
favourite Bible passages is Judges 14:14. It says matter-of-factly,
And he said unto them, ‘Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of
the strong came forth sweetness.’
SUFFERINGS
AND CHALLENGES OF LIFE ARE PATHS TO GLORY
Anyone who tells you that
you will obtain the blessings of life on a platter of gold is either lying to
you or is suffering from dementia. Life is structured in such a way that before
you achieve a given feat or attain a certain position, you must be tested to
determine your worthiness before being awarded such a medal of honour.
In his book, Don’t Throw Away Tomorrow: Living God’s
Dream For Your Life, Robert Schuller (2007:25) quoted Charles F. Boss
Kettering, an inventor at General Motors as saying to his colleagues, “Problems are the price of progress. Don’t
bring me anything but trouble. Goodnews weakens me.”
Outstanding
achievers all over the world are of the consensus that easy times lead to
laziness while challenges naturally bring out the bests in them. Peace times,
they say make warriors lazy but battle fields bring out their elements to the
fore.
Personally, I
have come to realize that difficulties of life naturally bring out the best in
me in terms of ideas and resilience. I am weakened by comfort but strengthened
by troubles.
Truth of the
matter is: you cannot attain to greatness in life if you do not first of all
pay your dues. For every prize you hope to be decorated with, has a price tag.
There is no breakthrough in life without corresponding efforts. Anyone who breaks through without efforts is a
thief. Of course, Bible tells us at Matthew 6:19-20 that it is only thieves who
break through.
God structured
life in such a way that for you to eat, you must break sweats. At Genesis 3:19,
God told Adam, “In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou eat bread ….” (KJV).
NEGATIVE
ATTITUDES TOWARDS SUFFERINGS
In 1993 when I graduated from a diploma programme, I
was so disillusioned: there was so much lack – abject poverty defined
everything about my family. Suffering was an understatement. As a way out of my
predicament, some persons came for me to join them in a cocaine/heroin peddling
business. I nearly fell into their snare. However, by God’s grace, I viewed a
Nigerian movie, Living in Bondage.
This movie depicted the dangers of get-rich-quick syndrome and its after
effects. To me, God used this movie to make me have a rethink. The rest, as they say, is history. If I had gone into what I
was to go into, I would have been a dead person today. How do I know? Because
all my friends and brothers who went into it all died. None lasted beyond five
years in that business. At that time, I had a negative attitude towards
suffering. Today, I no longer do.
Suffering has various shades: it could be as a
result of poverty, lack, unemployment, business or work related problems;
inability to meet targets or general frustrations of life. It could be as a
result of an unfulfilled dream. Proverbs 13:12 affirms that “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.”
Someone wrote that “When a shattered
dream is part of one’s expectations, the result may be a shaken faith.” 1 Samuel 22:2 provides insight into what can
happen when life becomes bitter:
And every one who was in
distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and
there were with him about four hundred men.
We cannot deny the fact that hard times can be very
frustrating. In their frustrations, people have responded negatively by opting
for the negatives. In their frustrations, they have resorted to criminal acts,
get-rich-quick activities, secret societies, Yahoo! Yahoo!!, armed robbery,
prostitution, and all manners of anti-social and destructive activities.
One thing we
need to know about engaging in activities that are not in consonance with God’s
Will is that they lead to self-destruction and regrets. 1 Timothy 6:9-10 warns,
But they that will be rich fall
into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which
drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of
all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Proverbs 20:17 says that, “Bread of deceit is sweet to a man when he is eating it, but afterwards
his mouth shall be filled with gravel.”
No one ever lived long by getting involved in
criminal activities. Criminals all die before their time. Ecclesiastes 7:17b
asks, “… why would you die before your
time?”
I beg you in the name of God Almighty not to allow
your present situation to lead you astray. It will not pay, no matter what!
There are seasons of life: you may be experiencing a difficult season today,
but I assure you: if you rely on God and work hard, a new season of joy and
fulfillment will be ushered in (Psalm 30:5).
DEVELOP A POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE
TOWARDS CHALLENGES OF LIFE
Developing a positive mental attitude to life will
help you to live above your challenges and to derive maximum benefits from your
situations and circumstances. Judges 14:14 is a gold mine. It tells us “…Out
of the eater will come forth something to eat, and out of the strong will come
forth some sweet.”
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, author of, The Power of Positive Thinking and Amazing Results of Positive Thinking
wrote, “When you see a problem coming
down the road, holler, ‘Hello, Problems! Where have you been? I have been
training for you all my life!’
What you see as a disadvantage may actually be an
advantage. Most times, successes come disguised as “misfortunes.” When you
throw them away or run away from them, you have only succeeded in throwing away
a vital part of your life.
Life is a process. For you to emerge the kind of
personality you were wired by God to be, you must take the path of refinements.
Sufferings of different kinds are at the heart of the making of who we will be.
No gold or silver emerges as beautiful as it is if not through a refiner’s
fire. It was Seneca who observed that as “Fire
tests gold, suffering tests brave men.”
Suffering makes you, it will not destroy you.
Suffering has ways of toughening us.
I like sharing what late Nigeria’s Social Critic,
Tai Solarin was in the habit of saying. He had a habit of responding to
people’s greetings thus, “May your days
be rough.” If anyone would greet him
at any hour of the day, he would say, “May
your days be rough!”
Many people felt offended by
his unusual way of responding to greetings until one day someone summoned
courage to ask him, “Mr. Solarin, why do
you spoil people’s day by wishing them ill?” He cast a long gaze at the man
and meditatively said, “The path to
greatness is strewn with thorns and thistles. It is only those who are willing
to pay the price who finally emerge as great men and women. Which would you
want to be: a great man or a vegetable?”
WHY DOES GOD ALLOW HIS CHILDREN TO
EXPERIENCE SUFFERINGS IN LIFE?
James 1:12 tells us that sufferings of life perform
unique responsibility of purifying us to be the kind of people God wants us to
be:
Blessed is the man who endures trials because when he is tried, he
shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love
Him.
There is a blessedness attached to trials and
tribulations of life. We may not see these God’s way, but He sure knows the good
it performs. At Isaiah 48:10, He said,
See, I have purified thee, but not with silver; I have refined you
through the fires of affliction.
Sometimes, sufferings are
Divine conspiracies for our good. King David attested to this at Psalms
66:10-12 when he wrote,
For Thou, O God, has proved us: Thou has tried us as silver is tried.
You brought us into the net; Thou has laid affliction upon our loins. Thou hast
caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water, but
at the end You led us out into a wealthy place.
Let me announce to you: Your present set-back may actually be a
set-up for your set-on. Do not despair. You are in the making for something
that will amaze you. This situation will guarantee the making of a spectacular
you. Only time will tell what the present will translate into. Do not give up,
child of God. Hold tight to the rope and never let go. This is not the end of
the road for you, it is only a turn!
Problems are like the birth
pangs of a woman (John 16:20-23) and I stand to declare to you this day that
the problems you are facing in the present will give birth to a greater glory
and testimonies (Romans 8:18ff).
You will emerge out of your
present predicaments into a place of abundance (Psalm 66:10-12). As it was
required of Jesus, “That He must suffer
and then enter into His glory” (Luke 24:26) so has it been ordained for
each of us that “Through many
tribulations (obstacles) we will enter into the kingdom” God has prepared
for us (Acts 14:22).
BEAUTY FOR
ASHES
There are beauties for your
ashes. Most times God allows people to be subjected different kinds of
sufferings with a view to manifesting His glory (John 9:1-3). If God has so
chosen you to be a vessel through which He will manifest His glory, even though
you may be presently in pains, it should be a cause for celebration rather than
mourning because Almighty has singled you out for the demonstration of His
power.
Are challenges curses or
blessings? Whatever takes us away from God is a curse, but whatever “curse”
that brings us closer to God is a blessing. David resolved not to allow his
prosperity to move him away from God (Psalm 30:6). If King David would not
allow himself to be moved by prosperity, we should also say we will not allow
any form of adversity to move us. Job is a classical example of this.
DO YOU WANT
TO REIGN IN LIFE?
We all desire to be kings
and queens. We all want to reign wherever we are found. This desire is not
against God’s Will. Sandwiched between Romans 5:17 is this statement of
Scripture,
“…they who received abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ.”
Yea, God wants us to reign in life. How can this be possible?
II Timothy 2:12 provides a clue:
“If we suffer, we shall also
reign with Him: if we deny Him, He
also will deny us.”
By what means did Joseph
reign as a Prime Minister of Egypt at the age of 30? His experiences are
documented for us all to see: wrenched away from the warm embrace of a loving
father, lied and conspired against by his own brothers; thrown into a deep pit,
and sold into slavery. Again, he was lied against and imprisoned. For about 12
years, Joseph was thrown about by every wind of sufferings. Each suffering
toughened and readied him for the glory that was laid for him – the position of
a Prime Minister in a foreign country!
Suffering brings out our
hidden talents (I Samuel 17:31-38) and sharpen our perspectives (Psalms
119:71). Suffering turns our eyes inwards, outwards, forwards or upwards. Suffering
builds confidence and self-esteem. It is only when I must have paid my dues by
virtue of being schooled in suffering can I confidently say, I have “seen 99,
100 is nothing.”
GLORIES TO BE COMPARED WITH THE SUFFERINGS OF OUR
PRESENT
If
only we know the glories that will arise at the end of our sufferings, we will
but hold tenaciously to our faith and commitments in spite of our trying and challenging
moments.
The comforts
that await us at the end of our present sufferings bespoke the glory that will
be revealed. The glory that will attend to each of us is both unspeakable and
unfathomable. At I Corinthians 2:9, God’s Word declares,
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
At
Revelation 2:17, God says of everyone who overcomes his/her own challenges,
that He will “give a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no
man knows except he who receives it.”
As
I was preparing this presentation, my spirit kept reminding me of one of God’s
promises found at Revelation 21:4. It says amongst other things that “God will wipe away all tears from their
eyes….” Think of it – God’s handkerchief across my face to wipe away my
tears occasioned by the sufferings of life would be one of the greatest high
points of eternity.
PROBLEMS HAVE EXPIRY DATES
Every
problem in life has a manufactured as well as expiry dates (“…and it came to
pass…”).
CONCLUSION
I
do not know the suffering you have been subjected to. I do not know the bitter
cup that life has handed to you to drink from. I do not know what your
situation and circumstance are BUT I do know one thing – God is on His Throne
over your life. He will speak at the end.
I
leave you with the lyrics of American born Gospel singer, Kirk Franklin titled,
My Life Is In Your Hand:
You
don't have to worry
And
don't you be afraid
Joy
comes in the morning
Troubles
they don't last always
For
there's a friend in Jesus
Who
will wipe your tears away
And
if your heart is broken
Just
lift your hands and say,
Oh:
I
know that I can make it
I
know that I can stand
No
matter what may come my way
My
life is in your hands.
God bless you!
HILARY
JOHNSON CHUKWUMA CHUKWURAH
Township/Campus
CHURCH OF CHRIST,
14,
Agbugwu Lane, Off,
University
Market Road, P. O. Box 351,
Nsukka,
Enugu State.
PHONE: 08039596919; 08182820677.
REFERENCE
Schuller, Robert H. (2007). Don’t Throw Away Tomorrow: Living God’s Dream For Your Life. USA:
HarperSanfrancisco.
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