Fellowship of Suffering!

For it has been given to you on Christ's behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him, having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear about me.

Philippians 1:29-30

Former President Bill Clinton became the brunt of jokes because of his use of the phrase, “I feel your pain.” How on earth could a sitting President of the United States “feel the pain” of an unemployed steel worker in Pittsburgh? Perhaps he could have said that he felt the pain of a little boy with a troubled home life in a small Arkansas town in the 1950’s.

The only way I can feel your pain is to suffer like you have suffered. That is why support groups develop with people who have walked the same difficult roads in life. Because they share the same suffering they can share many other things.

After the death of our daughter we were able to reach out to those who had lost children, in a way we never could have before. It is something no seminar or even graduate degree can give you. When we were able to rush to the place where newly grieved parents were thrashing in their sorrow often all that was needed was our presence. The unspoken message was this: “It happened to us. We were hurting like Hell too. But we are still alive and you will make it too!”

That message is precisely the message that Jesus conveys to His children who are suffering. Jesus says, “It happened to Me. I was hurting like Hell even as you are. But I am still alive and you will make it too!”

Psychology has identified the bond that is developed between those who spend time suffering together. A random tragedy can produce a lifelong bond between people who go down in the same airplane and yet survive.

Jesus has a support group and invites all of His children to participate. The group might be called the Fellowship of Suffering. As we suffer like Jesus did we come to know Him better, but because He suffered He knows us like no one else possibly can.

As you enter the next door of pain in your life look for Jesus and listen for Him to say, “I am still alive, and you will make it too!”