It’s been painful to breathe this week.
Last week I picked up some kind of allergy or viral thing. It’s been messing with my Long Covid lungs, making breathing harder than usual. Tuesday it got to the point where every breath was painful. I considered going to the ER to get checked out, but then I thought, why bother. I’ve done this before. As soon as I say “It’s hard to breathe,” they go into full workup mode. I would be there for 5-6 hours as they ran a battery of tests, including bloodwork, xrays, cat scan, etc. They’d come back and tell me “Hey, everything looks good. Sorry, we don’t know anything about Long Covid. We’ll send the $8,000.00 bill to your insurance company. Take care.”
Last night, I ran into the following quote by Oswald Chambers.
“Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it—to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16— “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
I have always marveled at Acts 9:16. God gave this message to Paul several days after Paul’s conversion. God would use Paul to plant many churches and pen letters that would be recorded for all eternity in the Bible. Talk about a big-time ministry! Paul’s life would have a profound effect on millions of people for centuries.
And yet “Paul is in for a lot of suffering” is all God gave Paul up front. Here’s the passage for context.
“Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
Acts 9:10-16
That’s it?? No “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?” That’s not the approach our pampered culture takes with new converts. It would be like saying “Welcome to the kingdom of God. You will suffer often and face great trials along with intense spiritual warfare. We live in a time when many are falling away.”
And this right after Jesus blew away Paul’s theology.
“But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Acts 9:1-9
Jesus’ first words to Paul could be paraphrased as “Paul, you are attacking Me. Go into the city and I’ll give you the next step.” No plan, no encouraging words, no nothing. Paul was so rocked by this encounter that he didn’t eat for three days. We don’t read that he spoke either.
Jesus has been blowing away people’s theology for centuries. Assuming we have the Christian life figured out—or that God fits neatly into our theology box and our very limited understanding of the way life should work—is a big mistake.
When new army recruits sign up for boot camp they know it’s going to be a tough challenge for the long haul. To be forged into a warrior they will be pushed to the limits of endurance. They will learn to work as a team. Isolated, lone ranger soldiers are not tolerated. What their commanding officer says, they do, without question.
Why should a church at war treat the Christian life with any less intensity? Why do we allow so many Christians to live isolated lives and do nothing about it? (The answer is easy—break people up to share and pray for each other in your Sunday morning service. Acts 2:42) If Paul was told right out of the gate to expect suffering, should we not be equipping our people in the same way, especially since we’re coming up to the tribulation? Should we not train them in spiritual warfare, and be prepared to fight and suffer ourselves? Are we equipping warriors and fighters or soft, comfortable believers?
Last month, as I gave a message at a church, I asked the audience to raise their hand if they met with a believer once a week for the purpose of support, accountability, and prayer. One hand went up. We are failing to equip our people and create tight-knit tribes. Church was never meant to solely about platform ministry, and it surely wasn’t meant to be an isolation mill where we’re terrified to do more than say “How are you? I’m fine.”
“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”
1 Peter 4:1-2
When I read the quote from Oswald Chambers, it encouraged me. Sometimes when I’m gasping for air my go-to is “how can I feel better?” instead of boring in with “Okay, here it is. Suffering is a part of life. Thank you God. Show me what You want me to learn, to understand, to do. I praise You, bless You, love You.”
Every believer is called to be a warrior. Suffering is guaranteed for the believer who is intent on making their life count for eternity. Embrace it. Never quit. Keep going.