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Suffering has been common throughout humanity.  It is almost like it is woven into our DNA.  We cannot function without some type of suffering; in fact, most of us will make up suffering in order to feel normal.  That being said, Paul is not making up suffering in Chapter 5.  He was a walking Timex watch, “He takes a licking and keeps on ticking”.  He has been flogged, imprisoned, and shipwrecked. If you can name it, Paul went through it.  The amazing thing about it is he was truly thankful for his suffering.  He saw suffering as being part of God’s will for his life.  It is what molds him to work for Christ.             

I had a young man come live with us a while back.  He is a great kid, a wonderful musician, but he struggles with his temper, and when it goes off, look out. There was some real family struggles in his life. When he came to live with us I took Paul’s approach and worked hard to explain to him that all the challenges we face in life are what makes us valuable to God.  The young man loves Rap music; I found that I was able to get through to him when I asked him, “Have you ever seen a rapper grow up in Mayfield? The sleepy little town in Leave it to Beaver.” He only understood the concept because Eminem raps about it.  God is giving you a testimony to share His love.  What greater testimony than to be broken, and changed?  God’s glory will reign when others see the changes in your life.  I told him he has a double blessing because he has music to share his testimony. Our walk with Christ would never grow if everything were easy. A human being is not wired that way.            

Suffering is not always about the terrible things in life, every day is a challenge in and of itself.  I believe Paul’s words are intended to express pain and discipline as the root for growth. I tend to enjoy some forms of suffering, but most people don’t enjoy suffering; they believe life should be easy. I don’t think people understand why things are easy now. Everything was once hard and now is easy because we suffered through it.  Take walking for example. From the time we were a little baby, the simple task of walking seemed daunting. We start by pushing ourselves up, and then we build the endurance to get on all fours. Crawling leads to walking.  Each step brings a new adventure; each step brings us new endurance.  It sets our character free and gives hope of what lies ahead.  I love how Paul uses something that we all go through.  He brings to light what we forget is a necessary requirement in order for us to do anything.  It doesn’t matter if we are eating, reading, or playing sports.  We first must crawl, then walk, and then we can run.  Paul takes it one step further and asks us to rejoice because it is God’s plan and He loves us.