Suffering with Christ
Navy SEALs go through a rigorous six-month training cycle known as Basic Underwater Demolition School (BUDS). This block of training is meant to bring severe suffering into the life of every student who seeks a position inside the special forces program simply referred to by its members as “The Teams.” The suffering we have forced upon us is primarily utilized to bring us to a breaking point, so we might quit and leave the program. The program is meant to wash out those students who are not mentally or emotionally strong enough to function effectively in a combat environment. For those of us who choose to stay in the program, it has the added benefit of strengthening our inner man. Navy SEALs are valiant warriors because they are men who possess strong spirits, not only strong bodies. We have plenty of encouraging sayings to prove this point. “The only easy day was yesterday” or “That which doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger” are two motivational messages constantly being drilled into the hearts and minds of every BUDS student. Those of us who adopt these messages into our inner beings find a strengthened inner man upon graduating.
Every human being is created with a spirit, soul, and body. Our flesh or body wages war with our spirit because our flesh knows its time is short. Our bodies will never see heaven as they are not eternal. You will receive a new body when you enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and our earthly bodies will return to the dust of the earth as promised in scripture. Our flesh is sinful in nature as it was born into sin, but our spirits are eternal and are created to desire God and to return to Him. I believe our flesh has a mind of its own as Paul alludes to in Romans 7:14-25, “…For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not...”There are, however, ways to overcome your flesh and live in the Spirit.
The winner of the battle between your flesh and spirit will be the one that is stronger, and the stronger one will be the one you feed the most. By refusing to cater to our flesh, we can weaken its resolve. If we feed our spirit, we can strengthen it, so it will control our flesh. We can cut away our flesh by refusing to allow it to drive our desires or dictate our behaviors. If our flesh causes us to sin, we should cut it off as Jesus said in Matthew 5:30, “And if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” We can cut it off by taking control of our bodies and not allowing us to be placed into a position to sin. If we are tempted to get drunk, for example, we should stay away from all forms of alcohol or anyone who might lead us to drink.
Fasting can also strengthen our spirit. Jesus said in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” Fasting is more than not eating. It is denying our flesh of comfort and ease. It is refusing to allow our flesh to direct our spirit, but rather, causing our spirit to direct our flesh. This can be accomplished in different ways.
In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul shares about his freedoms in life, but he goes on to share that he makes himself a slave or positions himself inside a place of humility and submission, so he might find increase in his spirit. He says in 1 Corinthians 9:25-29, “Everyone who competes in the games, exercises self-control in all things. So, they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore, I run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as to avoid hitting air; but I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself, will not be disqualified.” While I do not believe Paul was speaking directly to physical exercise, I do believe he is making a direct link between the physical suffering of our bodies and the benefit it might bring to our spiritual beings. He speaks as if he is bringing this suffering upon himself by the way he lives his life. Paul is telling us to embrace the suffering when it comes because it will strengthen our inner man, so we will be able to stand strong and not be disqualified by pride or any other such thing.
I believe that exercising our bodies makes our spirit stronger because we are denying our flesh any creature comforts, and are instead, causing it pain. I spent most of my life pursuing a level of physical fitness greater than anyone else around me, but I never saw it as an opportunity to grow closer to the Lord. For most of my life, I never desired to have a relationship with Him, so I only saw exercise as a benefit to my body, not my spirit.
A couple of years ago, I heard the Spirit of the Lord speak to me while I was exercising in my local gym. I heard Him ask me why I did not spend this time with Him in worship and in prayer. I decided to put some earphones in my ears, put worship music on my phone, turn up the volume, and worship Him without worrying about what anyone around me might think. I let my spirit speak to Him while my flesh was suffering in pain, and over the next few months, I found that I was able to hear His voice much more clearly especially when I was in this state of buffering my physical body. The Lord shared deeper things with me as my inner spirit grew in strength while my fleshly body suffered. Instead of spending this time allowing my mind and body to enjoy music that fed my flesh, people watch, or indulging myself with a T.V. show, I fed and refreshed my spirit with the Word and the Spirit of Christ while making my flesh do something it did not want to do.
Jesus and Paul lived in a time and culture much different than ours today. For example, they walked nearly everywhere they went. Today, we can drive or fly to almost any destination on the planet. They did not have the physical comforts we have today like running water or hot showers. I heard the other day that humanity at large did not have hot showers until the early 1800’s. Think about that the next time you are standing in a hot shower while it is freezing outside. I could go through a laundry list of comforts we have that they did not experience, but I believe the point is made. We have grown into a culture and society of pleasure and comfort. Our flesh usually only suffers now when we consciously place it in a position of discomfort or when our lifestyle choices bring unwanted pain. Two hundred years ago, this nation was closer to the environment experienced by the early Church which is one reason why our founding fathers and those in leadership today are so far apart in their understanding of God’s words and principles. The enemy has allowed us to become soft in our spirit by indulging our flesh.
The message of prosperity being preached in many churches across this nation is doing a disservice to those who are weak in their faith. While God does love to give us gifts, this prosperity message is not entirely based upon the truth. It is laced with a lie that suffering is bad for us. Our culture has become one of instant gratification, desiring an easier way to find health and wealth while maintaining the belief that prosperity is the key to our happiness. This is obvious in the way we pursue life from our restaurants and fast-food chains to the time we spend on the internet and social media platforms. There are many other forms of time-consuming entertainment in our society as well that weaken our spirit and strengthen our flesh.
It is true that God loves to give good gifts to those who love Him, but He does not want to give good things to those who are not positioned in Him to be able to handle them. When Jesus said, in Matthew 5, it is better to lose a part of your body if it is causing you to sin rather than to enter hell with your whole body intact, He was speaking about anything that causes us to sin, not only our physical body. If your good health, worldly wealth, or even relationships on this earth are causing you to sin, God will allow them to be cut out of your life to protect your eternal soul. He does not want to give you earthly blessings if it is going to cause you to stumble or fall. He is more merciful than that.
People today enjoy living their lives vicariously through others. For example, most people enjoy watching sporting events rather than participating in them because they are allowed to stuff their faces with food and drink while feeling the rush of endorphins as they watch someone else suffering on the field of battle below them. In this way, a fan might feel as if they have suffered alongside the athlete even when they have not. This is why a fan can be so torn up over “their” team’s loss. First of all, it is not “their” team. They did not personally play in the game, nor did they personally suffer the loss to the other team.
The Roman Empire fought and conquered most of the known world during that time in history, but when they ran out of land to conquer, the citizens of Rome began to grow lackadaisical and complacent. In other words, they began to lack spirit and zeal and became self-satisfied and unaware of the growing dangers that surrounded them. They enthusiastically sat in their coliseums drinking, eating, and watching gladiators fight and suffer below them while they cheered on whoever was their favorite. The Romans were so focused on their pursuit of worldly pleasures that they did not see the degradation of their society as their moral character weakened them to a point of total collapse. Their spirits were lifeless. Our society today is following the same path as the Romans. We replaced the gladiator arenas with sporting events and other forms of entertainment, but the similarities are undeniable.
Perhaps, you have heard the saying, “Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times. Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times.” I believe there is an element of truth in this saying for believers in Christ as well. Suffering and persecution of our flesh strengthens our spirit. As we seek God and worship Him in our sufferings, God releases to us His grace and love, and He strengthens our inner man. He might even answer our prayers and remove the suffering of our flesh, but if He does, we must be careful to not stop seeking Him. If we take our eyes off of Jesus and look again to the joys of the flesh, we should not be surprised if we begin to see the pain and suffering of our flesh once again. If we turn back to God and seek His face, He will answer us, but we do not have to live in this cycle of suffering. Instead, we can choose to buffer our flesh and live in the Spirit while staying in a place of humility, submission, and thankfulness towards God for all things. We can thank God for the good and the bad because He can use both to draw us closer to Him.
People who focus all their time seeking physical healing miss out on an opportunity to grab hold of the suffering. I am not suggesting that we should want to be sick or that we should not try to take care of this earthly vessel because, as Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 6, our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. He says we should not allow evil things in this world, like sexual immorality, to harm it because our body is not our own. It belongs to God, and we should glorify God with it. I am suggesting that we should learn to rejoice in our suffering knowing that it will produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
There is a saying that originated with the Marines in Iraqi in 2003, and it was later adopted into our BUDS program. As the saying goes, “Embrace the suck!” We should not look for ways to become sick any more than a BUDS student should look for ways to become injured, but when it happens, we should embrace it and fight through the suffering allowing our spirit to be strengthened. Galatians 5:17 says, “For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.” The struggle between good and evil, our flesh and our spirit, exists as a way of setting parameters for us. These parameters help to guide us while allowing our spirits to grow in God. It keeps us from doing whatever our own heart desires and continues to keep our eyes focused on God’s heart and His perfect plan.
In the scriptures, Job suffered greatly, so God might receive glory through his suffering. The Father had similar plans for His own Son, Jesus Christ. The scripture says in Isaiah 53:10, “But the LORD desired To crush Him, causing Him grief; If He renders Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.” The Father had a goal in mind when He sent His only Son to suffer. His suffering was not in vain. Job understood this truth about suffering as well. They both freely accepted the suffering in their life because they knew and trusted in God’s perfect plan. Neither of them tried to find a way out of it, but instead, they submitted to the will of God. They maintained a position of humility, worship, and thankfulness to the Father.
Job did not give up on God even when his children were killed, and his wife told him to “Curse God, and die!” He told his wife in Job 2:10, “You are speaking as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we actually accept good from God but not accept adversity?” He was not only refusing to blame God or ask God to take away his suffering, but he was choosing to accept it with a thankful heart! Job knew that God’s ways are higher than our ways, and he trusted in God to watch out over his spirit, soul, and body. If Job, a righteous man who did not have the advantage of being filled with the Spirit of Christ, could accept his suffering with thankfulness, how much more should we, children of God who are filled with the Spirit of Christ, do the same? If the Son of God, Jesus Christ, suffered in silence, as a lamb to the slaughter, while trusting in the Father’s perfect plan, how much more should we be willing to accept in silence our own suffering. We are vessels of the Spirit of Christ. Anything we are experiencing, so is He. We are joined with Christ in His suffering because He lives in us. The scripture says that those who belong to Christ are one spirit with Him. Let the Spirit of Christ within you drive your flesh as you rejoice in your suffering while living in the Spirit!
