Guest blogger: Laura Kuehn - God is at work in the midst of my suffering

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
 
Acts 16 tells the account of the imprisonment of Paul and Silas in Philippi. They miraculously freed a slave girl from a demon that enabled her to tell fortunes for money. But her owners were mad that their source of income was gone, so they had them arrested. Paul and Silas were stripped, severely beaten, and imprisoned in the inner cell of a dungeon with their feet clamped in stocks.

The fact that Paul and Silas were singing worship songs in the middle of the night (vs. 25) in the midst of these circumstances is not even the most striking part of this story to me.

What shocks me the most is the fact that when the officials try to get Paul and Silas to leave quietly, after they are horribly treated, Paul reveals that he is a Roman citizen (a status that came with perks, such as not being beaten or imprisoned without a trial). It shocks me that he didn’t play that card a lot sooner.

I can only assume that they stayed quiet because the Lord told them to.

Wait Paul and Silas. It’s not time yet.
 
And because they waited and endured their suffering with worship and prayer, an entire household was saved (vs. 32-34).

It’s human nature to want to avoid pain and suffering. God has actually written it in our DNA. It’s why we pull our hand away from a hot pot handle. It’s what causes us to jump back when something falls off a shelf. This automatic reaction keeps us safe. We are wired for self-preservation.

So how were Paul and Silas able to endure what they went through when they knew they knew they could stop it at any moment?

I think it has to do with how they related to suffering. They did not see suffering and pain as something to avoid at all costs, as I often do. They saw it is part of their ministry, part of life on this earth. In fact, Paul says so in Acts 20:23. Here it is in context:
 
“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.  I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."

There is a sort of acceptance and submission to his path, even if it includes suffering. That’s not to say he always walked straight into danger. There are many accounts in Acts where Paul was whisked away when a plot to kill him was revealed. In fact, in Acts 22:25, just as he is about to be flogged, he actually pulls out the Roman citizen card and they immediately stop. Paul seemed to be able to practice discernment in the face of suffering. He listened to the Lord, obeyed when he was led by the Spirit and worshipped and prayed in the midst of it all (see 16:25).

There is a part of me that longs for that sort of heart attitude toward suffering. But peace and calm are often my idols. I want them at all costs, and I often see hardships and suffering as diversions from this goal. But what if, on this side of heaven, suffering is more of the rule rather than the exception? Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” He didn’t say “maybe” or “might.” He said “will.” In a culture that vilifies death, pain and suffering, it will take real intentionality to change a heart attitude toward it. I am not sure exactly how that is done, but I think it includes some of the practices that Paul and Silas employed on that cold prison floor: prayer and praise.

When I orient my mind to dangers, pain and fear, that is what will grow larger, but if I orient my mind to the goodness of God and where He is at work in the midst of my suffering, something in me shifts as my trust in what God is up to grows stronger.

If you are in a season of suffering right now, maybe consider your relationship to that suffering. Is it your enemy? Is it the valley interrupting the peaks of your life? Are you like me and focused on how to make it end? Or can you orient to the goodness of God in the midst of it? Can you whisper a shaky song of praise despite the pain, trusting that God is still on His throne and is always working for good?

And never forget you have a Savior well-acquainted with suffering. He sees you. He understands. He is with you though it all. (Deut. 31:6).