WHILE IN THE SUFFERINGS
BY OLUWANISOLA SEUN EMMANUEL
EZINE ARTICLE EXPERT AUTHOR
ARTICLE BY AUTHOR, SHARED WITH NCCF (CROSS RIVER)

“Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”. This is recorded in the book of James chapter 1 verse 4. The bible passages that pictured what sufferings are all about and pre-informed every Christians what lies ahead are James 5:7-11, Rom 8: 35-39.

Every genuine son of God must pass through sufferings, trials and temptations. If it is inevitable, then God must have prepared a way of escape and how we should live in times of trouble, persecution and trials. When we suffer for righteousness and Christ’s sake, we should count it as joy because we partake in Christ’s agony so that we may share in His eternal glory. Rom 5:2b says, “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God”. NO SUFFERING, NO GLORY or NO CROSS, NO CROWN or NO PAIN, NO GAIN are slogans in the Christendom. Thus, what this topic focuses on is what we should do when we are passing through trials and temptations for Christ’s sake.

In the texts outlined above, many things have been brought to our knowledge and the people who share with us their own experience and what they did to earn the applause of god in their sufferings, are worthy of being emulated. In fact, Christ has set for us a path-way; He is our role model who when beaten did not retaliate, crushed but not destroyed, spitted upon, without a word, while on the cross still blessed the people, save yet another soul and prayed for the men crucifying Him. It is on this meekness of Christ that many people confessed that He is indeed, the Son of God. Mustn’t we do the same?

In a Nigerian film titled, MY CONFESSION (produced by EVOM), two casts were placed side-by-side. They passed though tough times but ended up with different conclusion. One saying, ‘God, you are kind, great, wonderful, I will still continue to love and serve you. You will still be my God”. The other fellow sees God as wicked God who in spite of His son’s or daughter’s commitment to Him could still permit evil or calamity to befall him/her. What is your own conclusion about God when you are passing through difficulties and hard times?

However today, many sons and daughters always want to avoid sufferings/persecutions and in fact, they always flee from any form of its appearances. It is no longer part of the teachings in the modern day churches. Marriage vows are changed or distorted to avoid the ‘worst’ part of it. Many churches teaches life without pain and sufferings once one surrenders his/her life to Christ when the one we believe passed through several ones and left words behind for us that ‘in this world there will trials and tribulations, but we should be of good courage, that He has overcame the world’. What a good and reliable promise!

Conclusively, then He said to them all: ‘if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it’ (Luke 9: 23, 24). This verse tells us how significant our suffering is. In fact, some martyrs have lost their lives in the course, only to take them back at his coming. Paul said, let us focus on Christ and run patiently the race that has been set before us. While in suffering, you must endure, persevere, be calm, count it all joy and believe that Christ has won already, when He said, ‘IT IS FINISHED’. Thus, we are fighting FROM victory and not FOR victory. Halleluyah!