Name Tags: Suffering

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)

Who wants to wear the nametag “Suffering” (not counting fear-filled hypochondriacs or people who can’t leave the past behind)...? Mostly, it’s an “I don’t want this” nametag!

Except for heroes, like Christ’s disciples, who learn first-hand what it means to trust God and what it takes to love “no matter what”… knowing how Jesus had suffered for them.

Countless millions have endured so much pain, considering war, hunger, homelessness, persecution, violence, and abuse.

What about invisible suffering, like depression? Do men “imagine” it, when their lives appear so picture perfect? 

Or is it Satan's intimate knife-thrust, as darkness dwells in pretty houses? Does God allow pain to pierce “polished” hearts, so they, too, may seek and find the Healer?...

One thing is certain: suffering ties us to other sufferers with unseen cords: a unity knit by threads of hardship, which prompts us to help and grieve with others.

Even more, suffering brings us to Christ, as we bow down at the foot of His Cross.

Actors, models, and talent for Christ:

When you reveal your own hard-fought suffering, you reveal the Man Who Who bears our burdens. So confess your vulnerability to show others in pain they're not alone.

You'll draw lost lambs to you and to Jesus… in a way the grandest sermon can match.

Because when you open up, heart-to-heart, when you share The Way you overcame grief– and the path where lasting joy can be found, your Captain’s Great Commission is fulfilled.

Name Tags: You Are… Suffering (Part 92)

NOTE: God is my Ghostwriter. If what I write is good, it’s from God. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players.’ Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings.