Enduring hardship now for eternal comfort

18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

John 21: 18-19

 
We all make plans: what kind of education to have; the type of job to do; the amount of money to make; who to marry and how many kids to have (or maybe none) etc.

For many of us it appears that we are in control and are captains of our lives. Until something beyond our control happens and our meticulous plans (and contingencies) go awry. Some of us have lost our health, jobs, homes, loved ones, and even mental health. We then realise from painful experience that we are not in control. 

Even as Christians we think that we are entitled to have our lives the way we want and since we are God’s children, He will help us achieve our goals, whether it is to become the next multi-millionaire, or own a palatial property, or drive a luxury marque, or all of the above. We will also need good health to enjoy all that, so we ask God for that as well. We convince ourselves that He will do this for us because He loves us. In reality, we want to domesticate God. It is not unlike having a personal genie to do our bidding and grant our wishes: the universe revolves around us. 

But we cannot serve both God and money (Luke 16:13) that much is clear. And whoever loves his life in this world will lose it (John 12:25). The bible makes it very clear that we are not to love the world (1 John 2: 15). Our preoccupation should not be chasing after the things of this world but furthering the gospel and growing in godliness. I consider the apostles and other church leaders in the first century as role models, and I have searched high and low in the New Testament, and I can’t find evidence of them amassing personal fortunes. In fact, Peter had no money to give to the beggar who had asked for some (Acts 3:6). However, he did heal the man’s disability (he was lame from birth). And that healing was interwoven with the message that Jesus, whom the Jews rejected, rose from the dead and is truly the Messiah (Acts 3: 11-24): in other words, the sign of that healing pointed toward Christ.

Also Paul’s preoccupation and priority was not to build a luxury yacht to take him on his missionary journeys. He knew what it was like to have plenty and to suffer need (Philippians 4:12). In addition, he was shipwrecked several times and was imprisoned – a far cry from staying at a 5-star hotel. People like Paul were not preoccupied with their personal comfort. Their lives revolved around God and His work. 

If we are truly God’s children, He will discipline us for our good (Hebrews 12:6). He will turn our eyes from the world (and our self-centred dreams) to Christ. If we are not His, there may not be any intervention and the road to perdition is then left open wide.
What sort of intervention? It could be the one we are suffering from now. The one that strips away all which we place our confidence in, so that at the end, Christ is all we have to depend on. 

Acts 14:22 tells us that hardship is to be expected to enter God’s kingdom. 

For one friend, it was the loss of his successful business overnight. He is now saddled with debt over a million dollars. But he acknowledged that this was God’s plan to help him grow in his dependence on Christ alone, and not on his former wealth or talent.
Another friend has such poor health that she had to go to the intensive care ward at the hospital many times in the past year. She continues to trust in God’s care and wisdom.

Yet another friend has a baby with severe health issues and according to doctors, the condition is life-long. The family continues to trust in God’s wisdom and providence.

As for me, God seemed to have called me out of my corporate life with a steady income to produce music. Perhaps my work will speak His word and bring someone to Christ or encourage a Christian, I do not know. But I am called to endure hardship and trust in God.

So we all, in our journey of faith in Jesus Christ, seem to identify with Peter – when we are old we will stretch out our hands and be led to places we do not want to go. But God is always in control. And as we share in His suffering, we will share in His glory too.

17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[h] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
(Romans 8:17-10).

People say Christianity is a crutch for the feeble – this is untrue. Instead, in reality successful people of this world use their wealth, health, education, networks, good looks and intelligence as crutches. And when their crutches are broken as they well may be in the vagaries of life, they have nothing else to lean on. But we will always have Christ, not as our crutch but as our rock – eternal, steady, unmovable and strong. 

But what if God has blessed us with wealth, health and other things? We should give thanks but put no confidence in them, and use those blessings to further His kingdom and to glorify Him. 

God’s peace be with you.

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