A “Half Full” View of Suffering: 1 Peter 3:13-22

A friend of mine wears a necklace that has a flat, rectangular charm with a drawing stamped onto it. A simple sketch depicts a drinking glass with a line running horizontally through the middle of it. Beneath the glass are the words “Half Full.”  It’s only a two-word statement, but it communicates volumes about how she views life. Think for a minute.  If you see a glass that has equal amounts of air and water in it, is it half empty or half full?  The way you answer says something about whether you see life through a positive or a negative lens. It’s all a matter of perspective: a glass is simultaneously half full and half empty. It just depends on the viewpoint of the person describing it.

The same holds true with the topic of suffering– our perspective on it can lead us to deep spiritual growth or debilitating self-pity and bitterness. Since suffering is mentioned in every chapter of the book of First Peter, it’s clear God has a few things to say about it:

“Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed…For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:13, 14a, 17,18, NIV)

So how can we consider ourselves blessed when we experience suffering, especially when it comes as a result of doing what is right?  Scripture gives us some clear answers about its purpose.  And while suffering isn’t an enjoyable thing for anyone, good can result from experiencing it. Here are four reasons you can consider yourself blessed when you suffer:

Refinement: Hebrews 2:10 tells us that Jesus was “made perfect through what he suffered.” Suffering was part of the process He had to endure to bring us to salvation.  So, when He died on the cross, He accomplished one of His primary reasons for coming to earth. In the same way, suffering is a process that accomplishes something in us. Peter explains this in 1 Peter 1:6-7 when he says we suffer trials so that our faith may be proved genuine. Just as fire refines gold and removes the impurities, suffering refines us, causing us to turn toward God when we recognize everything else is worthless by comparison.

Humility: Suffering removes the illusion of control that so many of us cling to unconsciously. No matter how wealthy, powerful, or accomplished we are, no matter how closely we walk with God, no matter how much we may try to avoid it, all of us will experience suffering at different times.  It reminds us that we aren’t in charge, God is. The apostle Paul learned to rejoice in suffering when he realized it kept him from becoming conceited.  After pleading with God to remove an unnamed and ongoing struggle he had, he says, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”

Paul then explains why God’s choice not to end his suffering brings him joy instead of causing him to become angry or bitter: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, NIV)

Character: A life of ease may feel good, but it is through suffering that our characters are shaped.  Paul explains the qualities we gain through suffering when he says: “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:2-5, ESV) Suffering builds our endurance and when we persevere through it, we gain character and hope. These qualities become part of a firm foundation that sustains us through future challenges we’re bound to face.

Comfort: Suffering is a jumping off place for showing the love of God to others. When we lean into the Lord and allow Him to speak into our suffering, He gives us hope, help, and comfort. Seasons of suffering become the times when seeds of faith sprout and grow stronger in us. And when we recognize that our suffering can be used for good, we begin to look beyond ourselves, becoming a conduit for God to impact others. Through us, He blesses people struggling through similar issues: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (1 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)

Looking back, I see different times of suffering in my life with a strange sense of fondness. Of course, I didn’t enjoy the difficult things I’ve had to endure, but I see how God used them to reveal Himself to me, to make His Word relevant in my life, and to connect me with others in ways I never would have experienced in good times.  So, while I don’t look forward to future seasons of suffering, I know they will come.  And when they do, I will choose to view them through the “half-full” lens and to look expectantly for how God wants to use them in my life.

If you are in a time of suffering, imagine Jesus is singing to you as you listen to “Brother” by NEEDTOBREATHE. And if you’re on the other side of a season of suffering, consider who you could reach out to with the sentiments in this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRSLz_KgUsM

*Inspired by Week 7 in 1 Peter: A Living Hope in Christ by Jen Wilkin, Lifeway   Press, 2016.