Thread:

The Bible has much of a positive/encouraging nature to say about suffering. A few examples of the kind of passages I’m thinking of:

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” – Lk. 6.21

1/x

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” – 2 Cor. 4.17

“And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil.” – 2 Tim. 2.24

2/x

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” – James 1.2

Obviously many passages on suffering pertain at least primarily to persecution, but I think it’s still safe to say God cares about more than kinds of hardship than just persecution.

3/x

But clearly not all suffering is the kind that pleases God for us to endure, the kind for which he promises reward and comfort.

4/x

“This is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”

– 1 Pet. 2.19-20

“But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” – 1 Peter 4.15-16

6/x

So, assuming we’re not talking about suffering in connection to explicitly religious persecution, how do we know whether it’s legit suffering, the kind commended in the scriptures?

How can we tell whether we deserve some particular instance of suffering?

7/x

Before that, how do we even know that some unpleasantness we face is actual suffering, and not just an insignificant annoyance that our selfishness and pride has exaggerated?

8/x

It seems difficult to derive any encouragement from those passages I quoted if one accepts that it’s entirely possible that...

9/x

A. we’re suffering because we completely deserve it, or

or

B. what we’re experiencing is far too trivial to be worthy of words like “trials” and “affliction” and “suffering”?

10/x

I'm pretty sure my perspective on this topic is distorted in some way.

11/x

Logically, it doesn't make sense that the Holy Spirit would put a ton of messages about encouragement amid suffering in the Bible while knowing it would be absolutely impossible for us to determine whether it's ever appropriate to apply them to our lives.

That's why I spent time writing out this thread -- first, to help clarify for myself just what I'm thinking, and then to share it here and get other points of view that might show the flaws in my reasoning. Thanks!

13/13