Suffer According to the Will of God

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Eliece Rybak

In 1 Peter 4:19 it says, “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful creator.”  Here in the United States, so far, we do not know what it is to suffer as our brothers and sisters in Christ suffer in other countries.
The very special truth in this is in the word “commit“. The word here is the same word that Christ used on the cross in Luke 23:46. He said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” These are the same word in the Greek.  The word means “to entrust, put in trust with”. Christ entrusted His spirit to the Heavenly Father on the cross, and this is exactly what He asks us to do when we “suffer according to the will of God”.
He asks us to entrust ourselves into the hands of our faithful creator when we suffer according to the will of God. Christ does not ask us to do something that He has not already done.  Do we know what suffering is?  If we suffer, we can commit ourselves into the hands of our Lord the same way Christ did, and know that He is caring for us as He did for Christ.  ( 1 Thes. 5:24 ) “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.”  It is easy to “commit ourselves” to our Lord who is faithful.

The next thought may be…..what if I am the one who has gotten myself into this mess?  Am I suffering according to the will of God if I made this mess that I am in?

If we know the Lord Jesus Christ as Our Savior, are a child of His, will He ever desert us?  No.  We are loved with and everlasting love (Jere. 31:3).  If a human parent would not desert their child in need, even more so, the Heavenly Father that only knows perfect love…everlasting love, would never desert us in our need.  He knows all about the situation, and is seeking to mature us, and bring glory to Himself through it.

Elizabeth Elliot says that “it is not the trial that determines the character, but our response to the trial”.  She went through many things that were totally not what she expected God to do in her life.  She had waited five and a half years to marry the man she loved.  She gave thanks to God in her singleness, and then was only married 2 years and three months when she became a widow.  She came to thank God for her widowhood also, because she realized that it was all from the hand of a loving gracious God.   Her response to the trial is what brought her closer to the Lord than ever before.  She saw that she had a depth in her spiritual life that she would not have known if the Lord had not allowed that trial in her life.

We must also remember that our Lord Jesus is the sovereign God of the universe that “by Him were all things created…in earth, visible and invisible…..principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him, and by Him all things consist.  And He is the head of the body, the church…that in all things He might have the pre-eminence.  For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell.” ( Colos. 1:16-19)

Christ is the head of the body, so that everything comes into our lives, He has the pre-eminence in that matter.  We think…”OK, I got myself into this mess….”  No…Christ has pre-eminence in ALL things and is sovereign in all things.  Nothing surprises Him ,,,He knew what you would decide and is in control.

We can trust Him.  He is faithful (Phil 1:6).  May we respond to all things that our Good God allows in our lives in such a way so as to become a reflection of the Word of God, and Jesus Christ Himself to those around us that need to see Him.

Only by His Grace and power living through us.  Praise be to Him.

Posted in Daily Treasures for the Soul and SpiritEncouragement from Other LadiesHow to help widows.UncategorizedWidows

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