Letter to the Suffering Christian

Letter to the Suffering Christian

Courtesy of howstuffworks.com/

Dear Christian,

     I can not express fully how thankful I am to God for the work I see him doing in your heart. Considering the great suffering through which you have experienced and are still experiencing, it is a testimony to the power of Christ: "What he meant for evil, God meant for good."
     Suffering is a reality for the believer; our Lord suffered and we are "filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions." It is one of those things our limited minds can not fully comprehend in relation to God's goodness and sovereignty in this world. Suffering is the place where our faith is most intensely tried; and, it is the place where we are our weakest. So what do we do? Do we "curse God" as Job's wife said? By no means! We say with Job: "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord." But how do we say that? By laying hold of God's many promises throughout Scripture that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose."
     The suffering which you have to bear in this world is great, but "greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." Remember, my dear Christian, that "Those whom he predestined he called, and those whom he called he justified, and those whom he justified he glorified."
     Take hope, Christian, because the body of suffering - along with all the emotional scarring - will be done away with when Jesus brings you into heaven. And there, you will receive a glorified body that has never been harmed in any way by anybody, and your mind and emotions will be completely free from the memories and pain: "and he shall wipe away every tear from your eye." And you shall spend ten billion upon ten billion - yea all of eternity - free from this present suffering. So hold onto Christ! He will see you through this suffering and carry you by his "strong right arm" into glory.
     You are ever in my prayers, and I have full confidence that Christ keeps you: you are in his covenant and "all who the Father gives me I will never let go." We serve a jealous God. He will not let you go no matter how great the suffering. Hold on.

In Christ,
Chase