I've been thinking a lot this week about how a Christian ought to approach suffering, partly because the following was part of the passage that was taught in church last Sunday:

1 Peter 1:3-9:

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

As Christians, we are not called to detach from suffering. The Buddhist ideal of being able to separate one's emotions from the distresses of this world isn't a noble aspiration for us at all. I would go so far as to say that a life in which you do not embrace your suffering is not a life fully lived. However, we are to embrace our suffering in order to move on, strengthened in our faith. I am not, in the least, advocating suffering for the sake of suffering.

How did Jesus, the role model for Christians, deal with suffering here on Earth? We know he suffered. In John 11, we see that Jesus wept when he saw Mary's distress at the loss of her brother, Lazarus.

John 11:33-35:

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 "Where have you laid him?" he asked.

"Come and see, Lord," they replied.

35 Jesus wept.

Though Jesus suffered, he did not wish to suffer. On the Mount of Olives, just prior to his crucifixion, he cried out to God, asking if there was another way to bring about the salvation of man.

Luke 22:42-44:

42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Yet, there was no other way to achieve the redemption of man. This path was God's will for his son, and so Jesus agreed to suffer for the joy set before him.

Hebrews 12:2:

2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Still, how does one bring shame, suffering, and despair on oneself for the sake of joy? For Jesus, the reconciliation of the relationship between God and man was the joy that was worth the anguish he endured. Likewise, we may have to suffer in this life as we build our relationship with God, but we are able to rejoice in the midst of our suffering because of the living hope we have, which is our everlasting inheritance.

[A special thanks goes out to my Fellowship Group leaders, Vivek and Jeanie Mathew, for facilitating the discussion that prompted me to think about all this and for the editing on Vivek's part that made this entry concise and comprehensible.]