“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”** Acts 9:13-16 (NIV)**
God uses suffering in the lives of believers for their ultimate good and His glory – one never surpassing the other. We can trust Him with our lives – even when it is painful. Saul - turned the apostle Paul – would end up taking the Gospel to Governor’s and Kings and possibly Emperor Nero, as well as to the people Israel. How amazing that Saul went from violently persecuting Christians into a dynamic witness of the Gospel. Yet, it would cost him. All things worthwhile are costly.
Paul records an inventory of his suffering in 2 Corinthians 11:21-29 (NIV): “‘What anyone else dares to boast about -- I am speaking as a fool -- I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?’”
He was God’s chosen instrument to carry His Name before gentiles and kings and the people of Israel and it would cost him dearly physically. God was not surprised at this or taken aback. We see in Hebrews 4:13 (NIV): “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
The same is true for our Jesus. We read further in Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV): “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Nothing we will walk through will surpass what Jesus walked through – resolutely – for us. Taking all the sins of the world upon Him on the cross. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (NIV): “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
And in Him we find grace sufficient to help us in our times of need. The humble soul will bless the Lord under misery as well as under mercy knowing all allowed is for our best. We need only to look up and cling to Him Who is the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 5:7-10 (NIV)