Suffering

05/29/26

My church’s purpose is to live like Jesus.  Our Wednesday night prayer group has been focusing and meditation on Philippians 3:10-11  “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection for the dead.”  This is a complicated verse.  To understand it we have to go into the gospels and see what Jesus was like.  The phrase “participate in his sufferings” has been particularly difficult to comprehend, especially in a practical way.  Jesus was called to die a tortuous death on a cross to pay the debt owed for mankind’s sin.  We are not.  But we are called to die to self, to be a living sacrifice.  As I was laying in bed unable to sleep because of pain in my knees, I gained some insight. Well, some new thoughts anyway.  Here is what I am contemplating:

The pain in my knees keeping me awake certainly is suffering.  Getting short of breath taking a shower and getting dressed is suffering.  But that is physical suffering. I think suffering like Jesus is deeper than that.  What I suffer most from is the frustration, disappointment, and anger towards the limitations of my body.  I am a dreamer/thinker.  I have all kinds of ideas of what I could accomplish IF my body would allow. I get frustrated and angry that my life is so limited when there is so much that I want to do; not just for me but for Jesus.  I play bass in the church band, but I have to sit to do so.  I would love to stand and groove and sing praises to God.  But I can’t.  I would love to participate in community service.  But I can’t.  The list of cants is long. 

As I have thought about this, I realize that it is not just the suffering of my body that is being like Jesus. Jesus is God Himself. He left eternity to be with us.  He was ridiculed, rejected, misunderstood, tempted to put physical needs, power, and human desires above obedience to God the Father as an example to us. He surrendered everything for the good of humanity.  So how do I follow his example? I think it means giving up all that I want to be and accepting the limitations of my body. It is living in the realization that my life is not what I want it to be.   It is trusting that God still uses me.  It is being content with my situation while simultaneously pursuing all available medical treatments to assist my body.  And it is trusting that being kind to the people I come across each day is a simple but profound way to bring God’s love into this world just like Jesus did. In short, it is dying to self just as Jesus did.  I am inconsistent in how well I can do this, but Jesus is working on me.  He is transforming me to be like him—as much as I will allow anyway.