Show Yourself a Christian in Suffering
The most profound and impactful words on suffering that I have ever come across are found in the Letters of Samuel Rutherford. The fourth letter in the collection was written to a woman whose infant daughter had recently and tragically passed away. The words come at the end of the letter, in which Rutherford says the following:
"Show yourself a Christian, by suffering without murmuring, for which sin fourteen thousand and seven hundred were slain (Numb. 16:49). In patience possess your soul. They lose nothing who gain Christ."
What remarkable counsel Rutherford offers. How many of us, in the face of such tragedy, would soften our words to a grieving sister. But Rutherford shows true love in that his primary concern for this sister, even in the midst of the most tragic situation, is that she would avoid sin, that deadly snare which so easily entices us in our moments of weakness and leads to death. Times of grief and sorrow are no excuse to break the commandments of our Lord.1
Christians ought to suffer in a manner that is distinct from the world. The heathens may murmur; we ought not to. The wicked curse the LORD of heaven and earth; God forbid the thought ever crosses our minds. How can we do all these things? As Rutherford reminds us, it is because whatever we may lose in this world, we have Christ.
Suffer in a worthy manner; in doing so, you will show yourself a Christian.
"Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;" - Philippians 2:14-15 (KJV) ↩︎