Suffering! “Don’t talk to me about suffering you sicko,” is a common response to the issue of suffering. Most people think it’s weird to talk about suffering as being part of the Christian walk. They say “get a positive attitude, get a life, don’t dwell on that stuff, it’s depressing.” I remember when I first came to Christ a zealous young Christian told me he was willing to suffer and die for Christ. At the time I thought ‘you must be out of your mind, I mean I love God, but that’s getting carried away, way too carried away, God is going to have to do a serious miracle before I’m ready to suffer for my faith.’

Suffering is the missing word in the theology of most Charismatic Christians, most of us don’t want to hear about suffering we quote “many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) We like to believe He will deliver us before anything touches us or we quote Psalm 91, “none of these plagues shall come near our dwelling.”

I believe God wants to protect us and deliver us, but the Bible suggests suffering is part of the Christian life. I believe it is important to set our mind on positive things, and we need to take every evil and idle thought captive, not dwell on things that are inappropriate for the child of God. But  also believe if you are serious about following Jesus suffering is inevitable.