Encouragement in Suffering (#OneMinuteMondays)

If I were to ask you who in the Bible suffered more than anyone else, my guess is that you would answer Jesus. That’s correct. No one compares to Jesus in terms of the excruciating suffering He went through while on the cross, as Isaiah 53 describes it. Who else? Probably many of you would answer the Old Testament character Job. You, again, would be correct in your answer. Whereas Jesus suffered willingly, Job and his wife suffered at the hand of Satan. Their suffering was significant. Possibly you suffer today too. If that is the case, here is some encouragement while you are in suffering.

Jesus Connected Satan with Suffering

As Jesus prepared the disciples for His departure, He told them about Satan’s desire to sift them as wheat. Luke records:

³¹ And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22:31-32)

Jesus addressed Simon Peter directly; however, he told him about all of them. Satan demanded God allow him to sift the disciples as wheat.

What does Jesus mean with this illustration? Satan intended to shake things up in the lives of the disciples such that they would undergo significant trials. In this way, what Satan demanded resembled what he did with Job and his wife. Satan wanted to bring suffering into their lives to essentially prove or not prove what they were made of spiritually. As Satan thinks through it, if he could bring suffering into their lives, then they would turn away from faith.

Notice What Jesus Said

Jesus tells them, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail.”

Jesus interceded for the disciples in prayer. In fact, it refers to intense intercession. Jesus prayed that the disciples would persevere. For each one of us, this is encouraging. The Apostle John later wrote that Jesus sits as our Advocate (1 John 2:1). He prays for us.

Notice also that Jesus understood Peter would fail, but also that Peter would return. To me, this is incredible. Jesus looked past Peter’s initial sin before he even sinned. He offered reconciliation, restoration, and renewed service before Peter ever committed the sin. How incredible is that? Even though Jesus knew Peter would sin in the midst of suffering, He loved Him and provided him hope for the future.