Whatever Happens...

Anyone suffering from a serious illness eventually comes face to face with the sobering question, “Am I going to live or die?” We prefer our lives to be pain free. No one likes suffering. For the Christian, the pain is the same but the perspective is different. We know that every day we have is a gift from God. When our days are good we should live them for God and when our days are painful we should live them for God.
St. Paul wrote these challenging words: “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.… For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.” In other words, our purpose in life is to make God look good regardless of what happens to us. We are to live out our Christian faith in the best of days and the worst of days, in pleasure and pain, in safety and danger, in grief and joy.
Just saying these words scares me! To this point, I have not experienced cancer, clinical depression or a devastating car crash. Would I be able to “conduct myself worthy of the gospel” or to “suffer for him” if these things were to happen? But that line of reasoning leads me back to the core of Christianity. We live by faith. We’re convinced that our God is a God of grace. He will give strength, courage and hope when the suffering comes. He will not leave us to deal with it alone. He will always be there for us.

See what the Bible says about this in Philippians 1:27,29.


© 2007 Leith Anderson