Matthew 16:24-26

Now here’s what I want to leave you with this week – suffering is inevitable in this life. A measure of redemptive suffering is required to grow. As a child of God, you will not be spared those dark moments of your soul.



The Apostle Paul talks about his own suffering in plenty of places in the New Testament. In 2 Corinthians 11:24 and following he gets on a real roll – “Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches.”



Paul experienced all of that – and where did it leave him? It led him to be able to say in 2 Corinthians 12: But God said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”



Some of you today are going through a wonderful time in your life. Your health is good, you have loving friends and family, your children are doing well, you enjoy your daily work. There’s no need to feel guilty about any of that. Be grateful for God’s blessings in your life. I join you in praising God for all of that!



And some of you are really going through dark times today. You are full of fear and uncertainty and pain and you worry that the light at the end of the tunnel is a train heading your way.



All I can do for you today is leave you with a question and a promise. The question? What do you think God might be up to in your life today – where is he leading you, what is he teaching you, where is he leading the ones for whom your heart is breaking? I leave you with that question and I leave you with a promise:



As Jesus told his disciples at the end of Matthew’s gospel, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.” As he told his friends in John 14, “I will not let you orphaned; I am coming to you.” As God promised his people through the prophets and through the psalms, “I will never forsake you.”



God will never leave you or abandon you. God will never let you go. Not even through the cross, not even through death, because even though we know that God’s ways are not our ways, we also know that God’s Word does not return empty but accomplishes that which he purposes. Our future rests secure in him.



Let us pray: Gracious God, sustain us in difficult times with the promise of your presence. Help us see a glimpse of what you see. Comfort us with the realization that we are not alone, that you come to us in the Word, that you come to us in our family and friends, that you come to us through strangers who are there to help. Come to us as we let go and let you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Used with Permission