Philippians 1:29
“For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer on His behalf.”
The bible speaks of us having free will to choose God. Then there are passages like this that seem to indicate that God helped us to believe. He granted the ability. I’m not sure how all that fits together, but the more I walk with Him, the more it’s Him that makes it work.
God is very much in control of everything. Colossians 1:16 says, “And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” That refers to the creation of the world and its sustaining. He also sustains us. There comes the topic of life events. While respecting choices, He is in control there as well.
Jesus starts out the sermon on the mount with this, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, (Matt 5:3). It may have taken 30 years to grasp this concept. I now see it as our comparison to a holy, good God. We are so sinful and in need of Him. We are in great poverty of spirit. The one who knows this goes to God for help. Jesus says that “theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.
To connect this to the previous one, God is very much in control and He reaches down and assists us. He granted us to believe. We were living in the dregs. He reached down, cleaned us off and set us on His course. We are so blessed.
The second part of today’s verse says He also granted us to suffer on His behalf. Most think that’s an odd thing to grant. Why would God want us to suffer? There are several reasons.
I Peter 4:1 gives one, “Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin.” Suffering has a cleansing effect. I wouldn’t call this a paradox, but it’s one of the mysteries of God. He does things we wouldn’t expect.
How does suffering cleanse us? It makes us dependent on God. We get desperate and we cry out to Him. This raises the temperature which causes the impurities to dissipate. We cease from sinning. This is a big deal. Sin has wrecked humanity. Unfortunately sin still rules in the lives of many. Societies embrace it and lead or force its people in it. The church is counter culture. Jesus was counter culture.
John Piper gives 5 reasons for suffering: repentance, reliance, righteousness, reward and reminder. We’ve already addressed repentance. Reliance speaks of our need for God. Suffering moves us to cry out to Him for help.
Righteousness is explain Hebrews 12:6, 10-11, “For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives. Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.”
Rewards of suffering can be seen in II Corinthians 2:17, “For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.” The reminder of suffer can be seen in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death”. Jesus suffered for us to bring us back into relationship with God.
Suffering has quite a large part of christianity. It’s despised by the world, but we learn to embrace it and see God in it. That which most fear becomes a teacher for us.
Part of me does fear some suffering. That’s natural. However, it comes from a lack of understanding of God. He’s a good Father. Knowing that trusts Him. He will only give good gifts.
There we have today’s verse. God granted us to believe and He also grants us to suffer. Thank You, God for Your good gifts.