Does God command the Christian to be happy about their suffering?
Something I used to hear, even before my Nouthetic counseling days was that God commands us to be happy about our suffering. In fact, we are supposed to enjoy them.
That always bothered me. Still does.
Guess what? That’s not what the Bible says.
Such an idea comes from certain Hindu and Buddhist ideas, not from the Bible. And twisting a couple of scriptures, which supposedly tell us to be happy with our suffering and trials, becomes another impossible law to keep. The holier Christians will shame us for not obeying God’s command to have joy in our hardships. I’ve even had some question about whether I am a real Christian because I admitted suffering sucks, trials are terrible or even terrifying, and life can be hard.
Like all legalisms, this silly, sappy, stupid nonsense they spew has no semblance to what the Bible says at all! What does it say?
First, Jesus did not enjoy his suffering.
Jesus did not go to the cross as some delusional happy camper. He did not enjoy his harsh experiences leading up to or during his gruesome trials and suffering on the cross. In Luke 22, we see his distress was so intense he sweat drops of blood. Hebrews 12:2 says he looked forward to the joy which would happen after his suffering – after he was victimized. Instead, he is the God-Man who went through hell on earth and death for us but does not expect our response to be better than his.
Second, verses such as in 1 Peter do not tell us to enjoy our suffering
Second, contrary to the perfectly pious people, 1 Peter 1 does not tell us to enjoy our suffering. Let’s see what it does say.
In 1 Peter 1:1-5, he explains to Christians who were beginning to experience persecution, that our trials and suffering are found within a certain context. The first context is the Blessed Grace of God. The implication is the Trinity is involved in our lives. God loved and chose you and me and placed us in his big plan, which ultimately will be for our good (Romans 8:28ff).
The second thing is we are in the middle of the Blessed Hope in God. Human hope is a desire for an uncertain thing. But God’s hope is anticipating a certain positive thing will happen because of God. Our hope is Christ and the fullness of his life, in which we move through our tribulations.
The third thing is we are gifted with the Blessed Inheritance from God. God’s plan for you and me is to be secure in Christ while we persevere through whatever hell we experience on earth. We persevere in his life until we arrive at the place where trials never touch us again.
Notice, this is not teaching us we must enter into suffering in order to persevere. The overall message on suffering in 1 Peter is for those who cannot seem to flee from those trials. Many other passages in the Bible show that if we are able to flee from suffering or death, then we ought to do so.
Allow me to enlarge this matter of inheritance. Colossians 1:12 says, “giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light” (CSB). Because of Jesus, we inherit everything Christ has, including the new heavens and earth. We inherit because Christ has justified us (Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 1:6-7; Ti. 3:7). We inherit because Christ has adopted us (2 Cor. 6:18; Gal. 4:7). We inherit because we are being sanctified in Christ (Acts 20:32) and will persevere in him ((Jn. 6:39; 10:28; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 1:4-9; Phil. 1:6). And we inherit because Jesus is glorifying us and will glorify us in the end (1 Thess. 4:14-16; Rev. 14:13; 1 Cor. 15:22; Rom. 8:16-17).
What’s more, the inheritance we receive in Christ is imperishable, pure and sustained, permanent, and secure in Jesus.
Here’s the kicker about all that we inherit because of Jesus. He lived the perfectly sinless life for us, suffered in life for us, died on the cross to deal with our sin and guilt, rose from the dead, and ascended back into heaven to rule as the victor over all. He does all that for us, regardless of whether we are suffering or not. And then, he gives us his inheritance. We receive all that he has and ever will have. However, what did he receive in exchange? What is his inheritance from the Father? You and me! Whoa!
Are we supposed to rejoice in our trials?
Now, getting back to having joy in trials. What does 1 Peter 1:6 say? It says, “In this, you rejoice.” Is Peter telling us what so many ascetics and pietists tell us, that we are to rejoice in our trials? Nope, nope, nope!
He is saying, in the midst of God’s great plan of salvation…in the midst of our rejoicing about the salvation we have in Christ, what do you have? Your trials. Our trials and suffering come in the context of God’s awesomely beautiful plan of salvation. In THAT we rejoice and in the middle of our joy in Christ, we find a purposeful and often harsh inconvenience – our trials.
We are encouraged to focus on Jesus, not on our trials.
This is why Peter closes this section in verse 8 by telling us to focus on Christ (more than we focus on our suffering). He is our joy, not trials.
We can bemoan the harsh realities of life. We can hate the pain and suffering. We can lament what is happening to us. We can cry over the cruelties and God still loves us. He does not ridicule or berate or condemn or shame us when life is hard or even excruciating and we are not happy about it. Instead, he embraces us. He shows us Jesus who is our true joy.
As for those who want to distort what God clearly says because they believe they are holier than you, me, and Jesus, let them go.
Better yet, pray for them.