FS Word of Power
December 11, 2019
Eva Windahl
“WHY ME?”
Some of you reading this have been through a lot! Some of you are wondering, “will this ever end?” and some of you have endured what others even couldn’t imagine. Eventually everybody suffers sooner or later because life is not fair and there is a great deal of suffering.
Today, I hear the Lord say: I have seen your tears and heard your cry, I have not abandoned you! I am here – now come and let me comfort you. Let me speak gently to your heart and know that after you have endured- you will share my GLORY! (Romans 8:17)
No one likes suffering, but you see we read in Romans 8 that we are called to share his suffering- whose? Yeshua! We read in Isaiah 53:3 – “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
As co-heirs of Christ we will encounter suffering in this life- but may I encourage you today? You see suffering will come to an end and his GLORY will be so glorious that I don´t think we will even remember all we suffered here on earth.
Apostle Paul even declares it is necessary to suffer. Did I say suffering is necessary? Yes. But it’s necessary for a specific purpose. You don’t need to suffer to be born again or to have eternal life. Not at all. But you do need to suffer for a different goal: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Rom 8:18). All believers are heirs of God. But notice, not all believers are joint heirs with Christ. That’s a special heirship—a conditional one. It depends on whether you have suffered with Christ. That doesn’t include self-inflicted suffering (e.g., getting arrested for robbery, or getting fired for laziness). It means suffering for Christ, for the testimony of the gospel. If you want to reign with Christ, you must suffer with Him. Suffering is necessary for that. Of course, it might not be your will. Suffering for Christ is hard. It can mean a great many things—from mild ridicule at work to witnessing the martyrdom of your children. That temporal suffering might not seem worth it. You might wonder- “Isn’t simply being saved enough? What more could I want?” Paul assures us that suffering will be worth it.
Let me end with this word from the book of Revelation 21:4
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
Have faith!