It is human nature to evade avoidable
suffering; and rightly so I should say. Yet it remains a fool’s quest to avoid
what is inevitable, and folly to not prepare as much as possible. Jesus insists that suffering is in the pathway
of every Christian. However, we often find ourselves in suspension about
suffering rather than resolve. Our minds are fixated on immediate deliverance and
not so much on God’s will and purpose. Peter later in this chapter said, “Wherefore
gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end”. In other words,
mentally accept where you are, and prepare to endure the journey in such a
time. One may ask? And Peter gives four mental resolves about the believer’s suffering:
it’s a temporary situation; it’s a necessary
path, it’s tough to endure, and it’s tempting to give up. When one comes to
this expectation of those times of Christian hardship, it adds a confidence in
the will of God, a view to suffering’s end, an awareness of the challenges, and
a strength to persevere. A suspension is to leave hanging, in limbo, unsure,
unresolved, but to resolve is to place it firmly on the ground: “This is what I
have to do.” After much prayer and anguish Jesus resolved, “Not my will but
your will be done”.
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