Thank You Lord for My Sufferings

Have you ever heard the saying "No pain no gain?"  If you have, the first thing you make think of is fitness.  How true it is.  If you want to build muscle, gain endurance, or lose weight, it is going to require some pain.  You for sure wont get healthier by sitting on a couch and just thinking you want to improve your health.  Improving your heatlh is going to require sacrifice and some suffering.  What sacrifices might you have to make?  Well for one, unhealthy food, high calorie drinks, and time.  How about suffering? Lets just face it, any workout that is worthy of improving fitness is going to hurt.  Your muscles will feel it, your lungs will feel it, and mentally you will feel it.  If you are faithful, all your sacrifices and sufferings will be worth it. 

Spiritual growth is the same way.  If we want to strengthen our faith, become more intimate with Christ, and experience His presence more, then we will have to sacrifice and suffer.  What sacrifice must we make?  self, we must sacrifice our selfish desires to sin.  Biblically we must put to death our sinful nature.  Think about it, that is a huge sacrifice.  you must give up anything and everything that displeases the Lord.  Everything in word, thought, and deed.  That includes our hearts, minds and souls.  What about suffering? How does suffering help us to grow?

As Christians, we are never promised a life free of suffering.  In fact, we are told we will suffer even more.  Just as Christ suffered, we must suffer as well.  Here is the deal, suffering will produce one of two things.  It will either produce defeat and destruction or it will produce strength and endurance.  The difference is your perspective on Jesus Christ during your sufferings.  Blame Him for your suffering and you will face defeat.  Praise Him for working you hard and your faith will endure.

One and a half years ago, I was the heaviest I had ever been. I was not huge, but I was overweight.  My pants hurt my waist, my stomach was constantly spewing acid, my chest was feeling lots of pains, my breath was taken away easily, and my doctor said I was border line obese.  My blood labs were becoming liable for heart, lung and blood pressure problems.  I was face with a decision, either give up and let my health take its coarse or get fit.  I chose to get fit.  One main reason, I wanted to be as healthy as possible for my wife.  She has Huntington's Chorea disease and some day she will need me to be at my best so that I can care and provide for her.  My main focus was to be better for my wife, the other was to take care of the temple the Lord had given me.  The bible does say that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit.  Long story short, I sacrificed and suffered.  Through it, I lost 30+ pounds and I feel healthier than I have ever felt before.  My blood lab values are perfect now, my stomach never burns, my pants don't cut my waist, my lungs get ore than enough air, and the doctor well I have not seen him for a long time. 

Spiritually, my life is a much longer story.  If you want to know about my sufferings I encourage you to read my blog.  Its not a regular blog, it is the story of my life and how I found hope in the midst of hopelessness.  Here is the important thing about it all, I praise the Lord for allowing me to suffer the things I have.  It is through my sufferings that God has made me who I am today.  I would not change that for the world.  Think about these things.  It is in our hurst that we discover healing.  Our regrets help us to understand redemption.  Loss teaches us what love really is.  Humility is taught by the breaking of a hard heart.  Only through suffering that we can learn what salvation means.  I promise you this, God uses pain and suffering to help us grow and more importantly bring himself glory.

Here are just a few of the reasons God allows suffering: it displays His healing power,it unites the body of His believers, it breaks us of our pride, it turns our focus to Him, it allows others to become his heart, hands and feet, and it points us in the direction of eternal hope.  The most impressive reason of all, God becomes visible through the healing and deliverance from our sufferings.  It is hard to grow, experience, and see God when everything seems just right.  Thank you Jesus for using my hurts to make me more like you.  Thank you for my sufferings that have made me more useful in serving you.



This is from a public boxing match
during a festival in Satu Mare, Romania.

2 Corinthians 4:16-17

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
May my life be the proof and evidence of His love!