Truth in Advertising: The New Testament never promises exemption from suffering if you believe in Jesus. What it does promise is a supernatural perspective on suffering.
Suffering (5:3) is from thlipsus; the root meaning is “a pressing, pressing together, pressure;” thus metaphorically “oppression, affliction, distress.” It is used in reference to the afflictions of those hard pressed by siege and war, a woman in childbirth, a person in prison (Thayer, #2347). It is the sound of the meat of a grape being put under pressure and popping out of its skin (http://www.biblestudytools.com).
Paul did not specify the cause of the suffering. It could be due to struggling with sin in our lives or tension between husband and wife or from child rearing or laboring to earn a living or from persecution or sickness (cancer, degenerative problems, chronic diseases), etc. In short, it could be suffering from any cause.
Suffering causes some people to curse God. Job’s wife, for example, told him to curse God and die. What is it that allows us to rejoice in sufferings (5:3-5)? The key word is “knowing” (5:3). Paul is thinking here of what suffering achieves. We can rejoice in suffering because we are aware that it matures and transforms us. It is a step by step transformation (ESV Study Bible, p. 2165). Suffering brings about endurance, character and hope. The eventual outcome gives perspective and purpose to the suffering we now endure.
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Stephen Atkerson helps church leaders discover simple growth strategies that Jesus gave the early church. For over 30 years, he has worked with evangelists, missionaries, church planters, and pastors in Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa. He is one of the pastors of a Baptist...
