Can SUFFERING be something good in any way?

"But rejoice inasmuch as you participate 
in the sufferings of Christ..."

1 Peter 4:13

I used to read passages like this one and I couldn´t really picture myself DESIRING to partake of Jesus´ sufferings. I would often think of suffering as aflictions, pain, illness, injury, loss, etc. One day when reading the passage above I decided to look up the word "suffering" in the original greek as it was first written and WOW! Now the invitation that Paul makes to Timothy started to make sense: "Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ" (2 Tim 2:3)

The greek word for suffering is pathema meaning the "capacity to feel strong emotion, like suffering" - properly, the capacity and privilege of experiencing strong feeling, deep emotion (like agony, suffering). Therefore, pathema is not inherently negative; indeed, it is only negative when experienced outside of faith, which would be described as pasxo.  

Whenever apostles talk about the sufferings they went through they are talking about pathema, THAT IS THE CAPACITY to endure hardships.  It is interesting to note that the suffix -ma emphasizes the end-result (experiencing strong feeling). 

[Source: http://biblehub.com/greek/3804.htm)]

The conclusion to this thought is... the moment we believe JESUS as our Savior, the Holy Spirit come dwell within us and now it is not about our OWN effort and capacity to ENDURE afflictions of life. The Holy Spirit is now the one who ENABLES us to go through hardships. It is not that we won´t have problems anymore, but whenever troubles arise in our lives, they will no longer TROUBLE our hearts. We can see it clearly in Paul´s life when he says "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake(...)" (Col 1:24); also in the passage below as described in THE MESSAGE bible:

"I´ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I´m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I´ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am (...). It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles" (Phil 4:12-14)

Seeing suffering from this perspective, we realize that ALL WE NEED in order to endure hard times has already been given to us through Jesus. We have the LIVING GOD dwelling within us, the One who has conquered ALL THINGS, the VICTORIOUS ONE - for GREATER is the ONE -in US- than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

That is why Jesus said "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart!  I have overcome the world" ( John 16:33). The Overcomer is inside of us, since we are IN CHRIST. Therefore, we´ve been made MORE than conquerors in Him (Rom 8:37). 

So, the next time we hear about PARTAKING OF THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, may we not think that disease or poverty are some of the means used by God for this purpuse. Jesus came to REDEEM US from the curse of disease or poverty- for by His strips we are HEALED (Isa 53:5); though He was rich, He became poor so that we through his poverty we might become RICH (2 Cor 8:9). Let us think of PARTAKING OF HIS SUFFERINGS as the CAPACITY TO ENDURE all adversities of life and not be shaken by them for Jesus is our firm foundation!

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