Perspective

Suffering.  No one likes that word.  No one likes to think about it, or dwell on it, or use it to describe their lives. And yet we all experience it in some form, to some degree, at some point in our lives. 

I guess I could say I've suffered through some things.  Illnesses.  Broken relationships.  Hurts caused by friends.  Loneliness.  Loss of someone important to me.  A miscarriage. 

In my reading of Philippians this morning, I noticed a word in a familiar passage that I have in the past skipped right over. 

Paul suffered.  He wrote this letter while in prison.  He'd already been beaten several times for preaching the gospel.  He had no idea when or if he'd ever be free again.  He gave up his family, his job, and his home to travel on missionary journeys.  And he knew his time was short and that he'd most likely be dying a martyr's death.

And so, smack dab in the middle of this life of suffering, he writes, "I want to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings..." Philippians 3:10

Paul had every reason to complain, to wallow in his misery, to wish for a better life, to feel sorry for himself.  But he did not because he didn't see his suffering through the lens of Paul, he viewed it through the lens of his God.  A limited, human perspective looks at his life and dwells on how much he has lost; an eternal, all-knowing perspective looks at his life and sees how much he is gaining.

It's all about perspective.  Paul could see that through his trials, he was actually experiencing fellowship with Jesus Christ Himself.  He was able to look beyond prison, beyond his beatings, beyond his eventual physical death and rejoice that because of this, He knows Christ in a way he never could have without them.  He trusted more, He understood more, He saw more of God's power, He became more and more like Jesus every day.

I have not suffered like that.  I don't want to minimize my journey because some it it has been legitimately hard.  There is reason for sadness, for hurt, even sometimes anger and doubt.  But often my perspective has led me to dwell on what I am losing instead of what I am gaining.  When I dwell only on my loss it leads down a dangerous road of selfishness.  When I focus on what I am gaining it brings me right to the Cross - to my Jesus, who suffered, and died, for me.  And in that I can find a reason for joy and gratitude.  My perspective shifts from me to Him - and I can see that even in pain, especially in pain, He gets glory.  And I get Him.