Rejoicing in trials

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  Matthew 5: 11 – 12

I have been reading The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun, a Chinese pastor who along with many Chinese Christians has been imprisoned and horrifically beaten, tortured and persecuted just for being Christian. They have an understanding of the joy of persecution that I have no comprehension of.  Yet their experience is Biblical.  Jesus suffered greatly for us. His disciples and the apostle Paul all suffered terribly for the Gospel and most were martyred yet I doubt any would have preferred an easier life.   

James tells us ‘to consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds’. Why? Because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1: 3 – 4).

Brother Yun says, ‘There are many ways the Lord may lead a Christian during his or her life but I am convinced that the path of every believer will sooner or later include suffering. The Lord gives us these trials to keep us humble and dependent on him for our sustenance. I believe when suffering and pain increases, sinning decreases. … How we mature as a Christian largely depends on the attitude we have when we are faced with suffering. Some try to avoid it or imagine it doesn’t exist, but that will only make the situation worse.  Others try to endure it grimly, hoping for relief.  This is better but falls short of the full victory God wants to give each of his children.

The Lord wants us to embrace suffering as a friend.  We need a deep realisation that when we’re persecuted for Jesus’ sake it is an act of God’s blessing to us. This might sound impossible but it is attainable with God’s help.

When people malign you, rejoice and be glad. When they curse you, bless them in return.  When you walk through a painful experience, embrace it and you will be free! When you learn these lessons, there is nothing left that the world can do to you.’

Most of us have little experience of what Brother Yun suffered, yet how to endure and, yes, rejoice in our lesser suffering is the same.  His experiences were so extreme and dreadful yet all of us will also have trials at some time with family difficulties, work problems, financial worries and church! It is through these that we can know that God is always with us and will use these circumstances to bring about his plans for our lives as we press into him.  Self pity will always try and grip us but instead we must embrace God.  Our character and maturity grow to bring us to completeness as we persevere in the midst of our difficulties and as we test God’s eternal word and find it is completely faithful and trustworthy.  Maybe we will even learn to rejoice in our suffering realising God is doing a great work in our lives.