Glorified By Our Sufferings
Hi Mike,
Thank you for the response to my question. It was very informative and enlightening. I always rejoice in receiving your answers to my questions. I’m sure this is a very in depth question, but it’s been on my mind for awhile now. How and why does God get glorified by our sufferings? I know it’s a detailed question, but I would enjoy hearing anything you have to say .
Thanks for your service in Him.
Your Brother In Christ,
M____
Hi M____,
You ask:
How and why does God get glorified by our sufferings?
I hope I do not disappoint you with the brevity of this answer, but the answer is as simple as you and me being glorified by sufferings of our own children when they obey the principles we instill in them, instead of simply following the crowd.
I have instructed my children in the ways of God, just as God has, through my father, instructed me. This ‘instruction’ has included many well-deserved spankings from my father, and I in turn found it necessary at times to spank my children. It is completely politically incorrect to do so now, but it is very Biblical to spank a child on the buttocks. God’s language is the same. He speaks to us all through necessary and loving pain.
My children do not go along with the crowd simply to be accepted, and all of their friends know that they have principles by which they live. I have watched as my children experience their friends becoming very frustrated when they refused to take part in certain parties or activities, such as displays of patriotism and in the abominations we call Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc.
While our circle of friends in our community certainly do not agree with our Biblical world view, I am still constantly complimented, and have been “glorified” by the way my children behave themselves and stand by their values and have not been seduced to abandon their principles.
We all admire a principled person who we know will act according to his principles. Even if we disagree with those principles, we admire and appreciate the sincerity of their character.
So it is with God. God is glorified because He loves us enough to chasten and scourge us when we are in need of such discipline:
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
It is through the pain of His discipline that we come to love Him and His ways. There is no other way, and all who think otherwise will reap today’s fruits of the permissive doctrines of the infamous Dr. Spock, whose damnable books on child rearing sold so well for many years.
Since God is sovereign, all of the pains we experience in life, both physical and mental, are being worked by God according to “the counsel of His own will.” Those pains we bring on ourselves through obedience to God and being rejected by the masses for that obedience, amid those pains we bring on ourselves through our sins against God; All of our sufferings work to glorify God in us, and in time we will be glorified with Christ:
2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny [him], he also will deny us:
Joh 11:1 Now a certain [man] was sick, [ named] Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
Joh 11:2 (It was [that] Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
Joh 11:3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
Joh 11:4 When Jesus heard [that], he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint- heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.
I hope this helps you to see how and why God is glorified by our suffering. Could God have done His work some other way? Well, He is God, so He is capable of creating perfection without discipline, but He has chosen this way of discipline to bring us all to perfection. His way is the only way because He alone possesses free will.
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Your brother in Christ,
Mike
Other related posts
- Works Versus Obedience (September 20, 2010)
- Working A Job And Still Forsaking All (May 17, 2009)
- Women Speaking In The Church (September 18, 2008)
- Witnessing To Babes In Christ (August 7, 2007)
- With What We Have Learned (November 25, 2007)
- Why Did God Create Hallucinogens? (March 22, 2010)
- Who's Calling (July 6, 2006)
- Who Loves God The Most? (July 21, 2008)
- Who Is My Brother? (October 5, 2008)
- Who Is Increasing And Who Is Decreasing? (June 5, 2007)
- Who Has "Sinned Willfully", and What Are the Consequences? (June 15, 2015)
- Where We All Once Were? (October 22, 2007)
- When Should We Witness? (July 18, 2007)
- When Everyone Turns Against Us (December 27, 2007)
- What is Meant by the Word "Perfect"? (October 20, 2006)
- What Is Love? (December 4, 2009)
- What Is A Disciple? (July 24, 2007)
- Were These Men Sinners Above All in Jerusalem? (July 22, 2009)
- We As His Disciples (June 4, 2009)
- Using Our Gifts (April 24, 2007)
- Unequally Yoked Together With Unbelievers (September 20, 2010)
- Uncovering The Nakedness Of Your Near Of Kin (January 22, 2009)
- Train Up A Child In The Way He Should Go (March 24, 2010)
- The Works of The Flesh In Us (November 3, 2008)
- The Meaning Of Backsliding (March 17, 2009)
- The Hope That Lies Within Us (December 6, 2010)
- Temptation With The Affairs of This World (July 18, 2007)
- Standing For Christ In The Face of Promotion (July 11, 2005)
- Sister to Sister (March 24, 2007)
- Should Women Ask The Blessing? (June 29, 2010)
- Should We Sing And Dance In Church Services? (June 29, 2009)
- Should We Counsel This World? (April 8, 2012)
- Should We Continue Going To Church? Part 2 (July 6, 2006)
- Should I Even Try To Overcome An Addiction? (March 30, 2009)
- Should Christians Vote? (July 6, 2006)
- Should Christians Seek To Have A Tax Free Status? (August 13, 2007)
- Should Christians Play The Stock Market? (August 30, 2007)
- Should Christians Make A Better Place To Live? (March 28, 2005)
- Should Christians Get Tattoos? (August 16, 2008)
- Should Christians Fear Curses? (May 4, 2007)
- Should Christians Donate Organs? (April 27, 2010)
- Should Believers Date Unbelievers? (May 4, 2007)
- Should A Christian Ever Use Physical Force? (October 29, 2008)
- Sex Before Marriage? (July 10, 2008)
- Returning My Attention Back To The Bible (July 20, 2010)
- Responding To Holiday Greetings (December 14, 2009)
- Remember Every Word Out of the Mouth of God (October 1, 2011)
- Rebuking A Brother (December 16, 2009)
- Proverbs 31:10-31 Wife (October 3, 2008)
- Patience and Its Function (November 6, 2010)
- Our Lusts of Our Flesh? (January 7, 2010)
- Our Brothers in Babylon? (August 4, 2012)
- Orthodox Ministers Publicly Praying For The Elect (January 28, 2010)
- On Voting (October 21, 2010)
- Obedience and Admonition (April 11, 2007)
- New Christians Are Always Confused (July 15, 2004)
- Neighborhood Bible Study (July 5, 1999)
- My Advice For A Young Christian (March 23, 2008)
- More Than A Conqueror (July 10, 2008)
- Mike and Ray Split Part 1 (May 12, 2007)
- Married Women Keeping Their Maiden Names (April 29, 2007)
- Loving Our Families (October 6, 2010)
- Let Him Remain Ignorant (April 8, 2010)
- Leaving The Church Without Guilt (April 13, 2004)
- Knowing Doctrine And Truth (July 2, 2009)
- Kept By The Power Of God Through Faith (July 1, 2008)
- Keep Them In This World (December 14, 2009)
- Is The Holy Spirit Working As We Serve Our Flesh? (March 16, 2009)
- Is Joking Bad Works? (January 9, 2010)
- Is It Scriptural To Work Long Hours At A Job? (February 13, 2009)
- Is It Possible To Backslide? (December 13, 2010)
- Is It Okay To Attend Church With Family? (May 13, 2011)
- Is It All Right To Keep Quiet? (January 3, 2010)
- Is It All Right To Date Those In Babylon? (June 6, 2009)
- Is It A Sin To Gamble? (August 12, 2009)
- Is It A Sin To Drink And Smoke? (December 18, 2009)
- Is It A Sin To Be Angry? (October 3, 2008)
- Is Hypnosis Biblical? (March 27, 2010)
- Is Cremation A Sin (June 2, 2009)
- I Wish God Would Stop Me From Sinning (March 25, 2009)
- How to Be a Witness? (April 8, 2009)
- How To Handle Getting Puffed Up? (August 27, 2007)
- How Long Do We Continue In Sin? (April 24, 2007)
- How God Prepares Our Hearts? (January 11, 2008)
- How Do We Know We Are Elect? (August 4, 2012)
- How Do We Come Out of Babylon? (October 20, 2011)
- Home Schooling (October 20, 2006)
- Handling Freeloaders (August 26, 2008)
- Handling Alcoholic Relatives (August 26, 2008)
- Growing To Maturity (September 12, 2010)
- Gratitude For His Revelation (May 2, 2009)
- Grateful For The Truth Of Christ (October 3, 2004)
- Grateful For Revelation Series (December 9, 2008)
- Grateful But Feeling Inadequate (March 8, 2009)
- Good Works (August 4, 2008)
- Going Back To Babylonish Church (May 11, 2010)
- Glorified By Our Sufferings (January 30, 2009)
- Freely Ye Have Received Freely Give (May 3, 2008)
- Freed From The Law of Sin and Death (June 12, 2005)
- Does The Bible Condone Gambling? (February 1, 2010)
- Does Christ Advocate Slavery? (July 25, 2007)
- Do Wives Really Have to Submit? (February 12, 2012)
- Did The First Christians Practice Communism? (December 22, 2004)
- Did His Disciples Provide For Their Families? (August 7, 2007)
- Coming Out of Babylon (February 7, 2008)
- Come Out and Be Ye Separate (June 20, 2007)
- Church With An Unbelieving Husband (October 10, 2006)
- Christians And Owning Guns (March 27, 2009)
- Christian Response To Holiday Greetings (November 3, 2008)
- Can We Know Gods Will for a Specific Situation? (May 13, 2011)
- Can We Eat With A Friend Who Believes Heresy? (May 22, 2009)
- Can Christians Serve In The Military? (June 12, 2007)
- Can Christians Drink Wine? (July 23, 2010)
- Can Christians Divorce And Remarry? (July 28, 2010)
- Can Christian Men Work With Female Bosses? (June 22, 2010)
- Can Art Be Used To Glorify God? (April 24, 2007)
- Can A Policeman Be A Christian? (June 12, 2009)
- Can A Christian Watch TV? (July 14, 2007)
- Can A Christian Defend Others (August 4, 2009)
- Can A Christian Defend His Wife And Children? (November 18, 2009)
- Can A Christian Be Forced To Deny His Beliefs? (April 11, 2010)
- Can A Christian Be A Pharmacist? (April 3, 2009)
- But Ye Brethren Be Not Weary In Well Doing (August 16, 2010)
- Birthdays Holidays and Unbelieving Spouses (May 12, 2007)
- Being All Things (May 4, 2009)
- Bearing Witness While Leaving Babylon (June 23, 2008)
- Bearing The Infirmities of The Weak (May 9, 2007)
- Bearing The Infirmities Of The Weak Study (May 15, 2010)
- Bearing The Infirmities Of The Weak 2010 (May 25, 2010)
- Are Medical Abortions Murder? (May 17, 2009)