Resigned To Suffer Because He Will Never Fail

Read : Philippians 1:27-30

When I think about Christ’s incarnation, leaving behind His glorious throne and the endless adoration of heaven, putting on humanity and entering the world in such a humble manner, experiencing the pain of rejection and eventually dying a most painful death – I imagine Him in eternity past, knowing fully well what He will go through. 

I think about Him, in all His glory and splendor in heaven, and yet so humbly resigned to the sorrows He was sure to endure for all humanity. 

Resignation is the acceptance of something undesirable but inevitable. Might the Lord have thought of the impending suffering to be undesirable? Perhaps He did. Or at least for a moment in the Garden of Gethsemane He did. In Matthew 26:39 NIV, He said, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken away from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” 

Amazing isn’t it that from eternity past all the way to Golgotha, our Lord was completely resigned to the plan of His Father – that He would suffer and die for you and I. 

The Bible tells us to “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,” (Hebrews 12:2). In Philippians 2:5 we are told that our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

What attitude did Christ exemplify for us to imitate? It is His humble resignation toward suffering as He obeyed His Father’s will. Embracing our suffering is God’s will for us because it has been granted on us not only to believe in the Lord but to suffer for Him (Philippians 1:29).

In our service to God we will encounter many kinds of suffering, so we might as well be resigned to the idea. Not grudgingly, however, but humbly and trustfully, just like Christ, because we believe in our Father’s good, pleasing, and perfect will. He loves us too much to leave us alone in our suffering. As one of my favorite classic songs says, “God is too wise to be mistaken, and He’s too good to be unkind.”

He did not abandon His Son to the grave, rather He raised Him from the dead. He sat Him at the right hand of His throne. He gave Him the name above all names. 

So will He do to us. He promised that after we have suffered for a little while, He Himself will restore us and will make us strong and steadfast (1 Peter 5:10). He will rescue and He will deliver us. 

Another truth we can learn from our Lord is that He not only knew of the suffering but He also knew of the joy set before Him after He suffers. We can indeed have the same attitude as that of our Lord because we also know the joy set before us after we suffer for Him. Romans 8:17 says, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” 

So let us be resolved to suffer for Christ because what lies ahead is greater than what we have to endure for now. Our light and momentary troubles are far outweighed by the joy that is set before us. 

Amen!

Reflect:

Do a quick self-examination: are you resigned completely by now to the reality of suffering as you serve the Lord? 

What particular future promise of God inspires you the most to endure suffering in your service?