Happiness and Suffering
To the extent that you have a part in Christ's sufferings, be glad, so that at the revelation of His glory you may also delight in happiness. Happy are you if they revile you for the name of Christ.
(1 Peter 4:13, 14)
Now we hear about happiness and suffering. The short word "and" does not separate them but connects them. Happiness and suffering go together -- unbelievable and shocking though this may seem to us. We can see this unity throughout Peter's letter. For what God has joined together (and what men try to separate all the time), nothing can put asunder.
The unity of happiness and suffering is a mystery. O, how we flee from the happiness that springs from Christ's sufferings. O, how we would like to have that happiness which doesn't cost much, the easiest we can get away with! But God doesn't want this cheap Christian life. The world doesn't either. "We've had enough of this formal outward Christianity" -- that's what they think.
[FV, HFTR, (c)2003]
(1 Peter 4:13, 14)
Now we hear about happiness and suffering. The short word "and" does not separate them but connects them. Happiness and suffering go together -- unbelievable and shocking though this may seem to us. We can see this unity throughout Peter's letter. For what God has joined together (and what men try to separate all the time), nothing can put asunder.
The unity of happiness and suffering is a mystery. O, how we flee from the happiness that springs from Christ's sufferings. O, how we would like to have that happiness which doesn't cost much, the easiest we can get away with! But God doesn't want this cheap Christian life. The world doesn't either. "We've had enough of this formal outward Christianity" -- that's what they think.
[FV, HFTR, (c)2003]
posted by CS at 9:05 AM
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