When Suffering Comes

Background Passages: Revelation 2:8-11, Isaiah 43:2, John 16:33, I Peter 1:6-7

I leaned against the hoe at the end of a quarter-mile row of young cotton, fighting back a fit of anger. My Mom was already 30 feet down the four rows she was hoeing, doing what had to be done.

Dad was on the tractor, plowing a different section of the farm. My older brother stayed in the house that morning “suffering” from his convenient hay fever. My younger sister was given different, and by that I mean easier, chores that didn’t involve the tedium of the hoe.

I begged to stay home that morning using the strongest debate point I could muster, “It’s not fair.”

Rather than the customary sympathy I expected from my Mom, she chopped those weeds as she walked away and said with a shake of her head, “Get used to it.”

“It’s not fair.”

I smile inwardly now when I hear those words from my grandchildren. It’s a truth they must learn the hard way. As much as our culture would like it to be, life isn’t always fair. We should never stop trying to make it more so, but it will never be fair in all aspects.

Adults are not immune to the feeling. Our personal world caves in for one reason or another. A loved one gets sick or injured. A disheartening diagnosis comes our way. A promotion is handed to someone else. Your neighbor seems to live a charmed life where everything works out perfectly.

We may not voice it the same way we did as children, but we feel it. When the hard times come as they inevitably do and will—when we suffer–it’s difficult not to fall back on the pained and plaintive cry, “It’s not fair!”

Being Christian does not immunize us against difficult times. All of us face those deep trials eventually. Isaiah recognized the certainty of hardship and suffering. He also knew suffering could not defeat the faithful child of God if for no other reason than we will not make that journey alone.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isaiah 43:2)

Understanding that promise is what keeps the Christian from becoming a victim to the “life is not fair” culture. We can overcome life’s hardships because the one we trust also overcame.

“I have told you these things,” Jesus said, “so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But, take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Long time pastor and author Ray Pritchard recalled preparing for a radio broadcast with Jim Warren on Moody Radio for Primetime America. As they discussed some recent heartbreak, Warren shared this thought. “When hard times come,” he said, “be a student, not a victim.”

Pritchard called it one of the most profound statements he ever heard. He said, “Some people go through life as professional victims, always talking about how they have been mistreated. But perpetual victimhood dooms you to a life of self-centered misery because you learn nothing from your trials.

“A victim says, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ A student says, ‘What can I learn from this?’

“A victim looks at everyone else and cries out, ‘Life isn’t fair.’ A student looks at life and says, ‘What happened to me could have happened to anyone.’

“A victim believes his hard times have come because God is trying to punish him. A student understands that God allows hard times to help him grow.”

I think the church at Smyrna would have understood this. Prior to Easter, my last Bible study focused on the word of God to the church at Ephesus. I mentioned at the time, that I would pick up with the messages to six other churches as found in the book of Revelation. We will focus this week on the Christian church in Smyrna. Though these seven churches are historic congregations, the message Jesus delivered to them through John remains relevant to Christians today.

Smyrna, located about 35 miles north of Ephesus on the Aegean Sea. shared a long and storied history that began as a successful Greek colony 1,000 years before Christ. Raided and razed by the Lydeans around 600 BC, Smyrna ceased to exist for the next 400 years, a pile of ruin and rubble. The city rose from its ashes around 200 BC, rebuilt as a planned community with beautifully paved streets and a perfectly protected harbor.

By the time John writes Revelation, Smyrna is a free city, committed with absolute fidelity to Rome. Cicero called it “one of our most faithful and most ancient allies.” It was the first city in the world to erect a temple to the spirit of Rome and the goddess, Roma. The Roman citizens within the city worshipped the emperor as a god and made worshipping any other deity a serious crime.

Jews earned an exception to the rule primarily by placating the Roman authorities and paying large tribute to the emperor to fund public works. The Jewish population grew increasingly hostile toward the Christians, fearing that they would lose their protected status and privileges.

Christians living in Smyrna suffered severe hardship because of their faith. Having none of the legal protections and refusing to call the emperor a god placed them at odds with Rome and with the Jews. The Christians in Smyrna chose not to bow down to the emperor despite the laws of the land. Rome typically ignored their insubordination in a sort of “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach.

In other words, they didn’t look for Christians to persecute, but would investigate if someone complained. Fearing for their favored status among the Romans, the Jews complained often. And, if they had nothing concrete to go on, they made things up.

When Rome was forced to investigate, Christians who refused to kneel before the emperor would be stripped of their possessions, banned from employment and, in some cases, put to death.

Yet, through their growing difficulties, they remained faithful disciples (students) of Jesus rather than victims to the mounting persecution and problems.

Read Jesus’ words to the “angels of the church in Smyrna:”

“These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful even to the point of death and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:8-10)

What an encouragement these words must have been to a faithful church oppressed!

Jesus describes himself as the First and Last, as the one who died and is alive again. It is upon the foundation of Christ that the church is built. He was the First. Their cornerstone. Their foundation. He was the Last. The Judge. The one before whom all men must stand in judgment of their actions.

Surely, the church in Smyrna found courage and strength in knowing that, regardless of the pressure put upon them by Rome or the Jews, Jesus was their unshakable foundation. As the one who died and is alive again, Jesus proclaimed his powerful presence among them. He would judge those who persecuted them.

Despite their “afflictions and poverty,” Jesus considers them rich! Impoverished by the world’s standards, they lived in the abundance of God’s grace. As his children, they shared in the riches and glory of God’s kingdom.

Despite the dire circumstances, the church in Smyrna refused to give in. Despite their suffering, they persevered. While God found a flaw among most of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation, he could only commend Smyrna for their strength, courage and perseverance amid their troubles.

Jesus told them the suffering would continue. Persecution was inevitable. He told them they would be tried and tested for their faith. He reassured them that the trials and troubles would last only a little while compared to the eternity that awaited them.

So, in the face of hardship and difficulty, Jesus gave them two commands. “Do not be afraid,” he said, “Be faithful, even unto death.” In other words. Don’t worry about what’s happening in your life. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Remain faithful, even if it kills you.

To anyone of us who has experienced the tragedies of life, that’s a difficult pill to swallow. While we might adopt the “one day at a time” attitude just to get through the struggle, it seldom makes sense. I doubt the people in Smyrna understood any better than we do.

How could they not be afraid? Jesus told them early in this passage. “I too was persecuted. I was put to death. Yet, I am alive again.” In essence he told them whatever your suffering may be, remember I overcame death. If you persevere to the end, you will overcome all things. You will overcome death as well. The worst problems and afflictions in this life pale in comparison to the eternal glory which God shares with his people.

My life has been blessed by God. Most of the difficulties I have experienced have been self-imposed. My mistakes. My decisions. My fault. The sorrow and sadness I’ve felt, the pain and suffering that comes as an inevitable part of life has been temporary and intensely overshadowed by God’s blessings.

I also know difficult times are ahead. It is inevitable. I can either declare life unfair and call myself a victim or I can be a student of a persecuted Lord and Savior who endured the worst the world could offer on my behalf. I suspect you feel the same.

Jesus is our unshakable cornerstone and foundation. As a victor over persecution and death, he lives today. His presence in our lives through his Holy Spirit is real and powerful. His comfort flows freely to those who are frightened and hurting.

In the face of all that is unnerving and painful, he tells us the same thing he told the brothers and sisters in Smyrna. Do not be afraid. Don’t let the troubles of this world keep you from living a life of committed service to the one to whom you owe everything. Do not be afraid. Feel the presence of a risen Lord. Cling to the hope he brings.

Be faithful. Focus on that promise of eternal victory and not on the hardships ahead. Though the troubles may seem difficult and long-lasting, their duration is but a vanishing mist when compared to all eternity. Suffering is temporary. Faith is forever.

Jesus told the persecuted people of the church in Smyrna that those who overcome “will not be hurt at all by the second death.” (Revelation 2:11)

The second death. That’s what Jesus called spiritual separation from the father. God’s victory is final. That’s what I know. When the day of judgment comes and God separates the sheep from the goats, his sheep will not be hurt and will not suffer. Those who never trusted in his name will face a spiritual death that separates them from the goodness and grace of God forever.

Pritchard said, “A victim begs God to remove the problems of life so that he might be happy. A student (a disciple of Christ) has learned through the problems of life that God alone is the source of all true happiness.

That’s the true Christian outlook. We believe so much in the sovereignty of God that when hard times come, we know that God is at work for our good and his glory.

One final point, hardships don’t come because God needs to figure out who his true believers are using some spiritual obstacle course. Rather, our ability to endure and persevere because of our faith shines a light on God for the rest of the world to see. Through our pain we prove the true nature of our faith. Those on the outside looking in witness the power, the presence, the goodness and grace of our father in heaven.

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith…may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus is revealed.” (I Peter 1:6-7)

I read a quote this week from Caleb Suko, a pastor serving in Ukraine. I think he sums up well the message Jesus shared with the believers in Smyrna. It’s the same message we need to hear today.

Suko said, “If you have Christ then all your pain is temporary. If you don’t, then all your pleasure is temporary.”

As the song goes, “I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.”