The Fellowship Of His Suffering

Here is a powerful Devotion from my Brother Norman Kissinger. Read this it will help you get to the next level spiritually.

"The Fellowship of His Sufferings

Phillipians 3:10

My father-in-law told me one time back in the early 1970s when his kids were young that they were arguing in the backseat of his VW and he ran into the back of someone at a stop sign in St Louis. Frustrated, he put the car in reverse and backed up and hit the person behind him.

When he got out to explain everything to the drivers, both of them said they perfectly understood because they had children too. They had experienced 

the fellowship of his sufferings.

We tend to have a common bond with those who have been through the same experiences as us. Having work for almost 30 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, I have an an immediate empathy anytime I see anything on Facebook about Corrections Officers around the country. And I believe that is because we did not just share the same experiences but we shared the same suffering. 

I'm not so sure it is the experience that is the uniting bond but the suffering that unites us.

My son, who is in the Marines, displays the same empathy for any fellow Marine. Again, I believe it is because he was able to share the same suffering in all of the difficult training in the service with them.

After many years as a Christian, I think I understand this verse a little better. I understand now that in order for me to grow as a Christian I must suffer the way Christ suffered. How can he ever have fellowship with me if I have not been through some of His pain, rejection, slander, and every other form of suffering that he went through. 

Of course I didn't take on the sin of the world but every time that I suffer in any trial I am understanding Christ a little bit better.

The truth is most of us Christians will never attain the fellowship we claimed we would like in Christ because we are unwilling to pay the suffering that would be necessary to get there.

I can never really know what it's like to be a Marine no matter how many times my son would explain it to me because I've not been through his 13 weeks of basic and his Advanced Training. But in the same way my son could never understand what it is like to work in a place where you're outnumbered 50 to 1 and everyone would kill you if they had the right motive.

So let's face it, we often pretend we're getting close to Christ and we may be learning a few things from His word but it is only when we go through trials that we are truly understanding Him better.

But, as I was meditating on this verse, I also realized there was another side. Not only do I have to suffer, but in order for Christ to better relate to me He has to know that I've suffered. How many times as a baby Christian have I come to Him and poured out my baby complaints when He probably saw our conversation  like a three-year-old talking to his mother. The three year old is complaining over a missing toy and the mother is stressing over paying the bills. A relationship is going on there but not much Fellowship. 

I now see that in order for Christ to move closer to us as well as for us to move closer to Him, the fellowship of our suffering and going through shared experiences with him create that bond and a deeper faith.

No I'm not claiming we need to look for suffering. Enough of it happens because of our decisions and Satan's attacks. But at least I see the value in suffering a little bit more. This may be why Christians in places like the Eastern countries where Christianity is going to cost you a lot have such a deep walk with the Lord.

With the political unrest growing at a level that can only be rivaled by the Civil War or the 1960s and an economy that may collapse in the coming months. We Christians may benefit in one way. We may finally begin to grow closer to the Lord as we share in the fellowship of his sufferings and He is able then to trust us with more of His own heart.