The Holy Suffering of the Saint

Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good . . . —1 Peter 4:19

When my Dad lay dying many came to visit and to pray with and for him. One I will never forget. He came by and introduced himself as a chaplain. He prayed and even sang a touching song. Dad was out of it and I was glad because this gentleman ended the pray with words like “may the suffering of Mr. Rene make up for anything lacking in the suffering of Christ.” I was shocked. There is nothing “lacking” in the suffering of Christ. Jesus did all that was necessary to purchase our salvation and our “suffering” adds nothing to that.

Over the years of Christianity there have been those who sought suffering as either a payment for sin or for some other “spiritual” reason. Choosing to suffer means that there must be something wrong with you, but choosing God’s will— even if it means you will suffer— is something very different. No normal, healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he simply chooses God’s will, just as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. And no saint should ever dare to interfere with the lesson of suffering being taught in another saint’s life.

There is no question that life is tough and there is suffering. We often meet Jesus in our suffering and suffering may aid in our growth; but we should in no way ever think that our suffering is necessary to our salvation. That takes away from what Jesus did and is “just wrong.”

We trust God with our lives no matter what joy or sorrow follow Him may lead to. We know Guide loves us more than we love ourselves and know what is good for us more than we ever could. We follow and we are blessed.

Nick