Making sense of suffering

‎"The suffering of the servants of God, borne with faith and even praise, is a shattering experience to apathetic saints whose lives are empty in the midst of countless comforts." -Piper


One of my favorite topics in the Bible is the notion of suffering. Its one of the words that is difficult to make sense of for many Christians. Quotes like the one above suggests that "sufferings" of God's people is born of affliction and pain. The truth is that there are over 20 different Greek words translated into the word "suffering" in the New Testament. Some are far from meaning painful affliction such as "suffer the little children to come unto me" (Jesus). Here the word for suffer simply means "allow". 


There are several words that do suggest affliction or pain. "Dipsao" used 16 times means to suffer from thirst. "Zemioo" (I Corinth 3:13) is used to denote sustained damage. "Tino" means to pay a penalty. "Pathema" (used 16 times) is the Greek word we most associate with suffering, it means the external experience of a calamity, misfortune, or affliction.

However, the most often used Greek word in the New Testament for " suffer" is "pascho", used 41 times and 16 in I Peter alone. "Pascho" simply means the emotions of the human experience. It refers not to whether the experience is good or bad but the internal human response we experience to some external circumstance. Peter often refers to the "pascho" (sufferings) of Christ. 


This is a reference to the internal human response Christ had to events around Him. He was exalted and He was rejected. He experienced the entire realm of human emotion, PERFECTLY. So to make sense of the notion of the "fellowship of His suffering" as a believer in  Christ, we note that Paul says (in Philippians) he desires to be so intimate with Christ as to allow the Christ in him to inform his emotions so that he has Kingdom responses to ALL external stimuli, whether seen as favorable OR unfavorable to the carnal mind.


NOW, that is the kind of suffering that brings us JOY. ...... Think about it ....