“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” [2 Timothy 2:10]
“SUFFERING,” according to pastor John Piper, “is one of Christ’s strategies for the success of His mission”—for the advance of His kingdom.
I saw a woman live out this principle in the midst of a heartrending situation where her husband had been unfaithful to his marriage vows, deeply wounding his family, just as their two children were nearing their teen years. Throughout the whole ordeal, she kept her eyes on Christ. She endured the painful days and torturous nights for His sake and for the sake of her kids and their fledgling faith (while still taking wise, necessary steps to confront her husband’s sinful choices).
During one tender moment in the middle of this prolonged nightmare, her twelve-year-old son said to her, “Mom, since all of this happened, I’ve been afraid to get married some day because I’m scared I’ll hurt my family the way Dad has hurt us. But you have shown him so much forgiveness and love—your example actually makes me want to get married and show that same kind of commitment to my family someday. You make me want to be a godly testimony to others, just as you are.”
In time, this woman’s patient endurance not only strengthened her children’s faith but was also a means God used to bring her husband to repentance and to restore their marriage.
The apostle Paul was willing to endure suffering “for the sake of the elect,” for the furtherance of their growth in the gospel. And we, too, even when placed in undeserved, seemingly unbearable situations, must remember who’s watching and what’s at stake. God may not “fix” everything as we would wish this side of eternity, but He will surely give us the grace to endure as we embrace by faith the mysterious purposes and ultimate outcome of our suffering.
How has your faith been bolstered by watching the steady, graceful endurance of a fellow believer under pressure? How does the perspective expressed by Paul in this passage speak to a difficult situation you are facing? [The Quiet Place]
