2 Timothy 2:3 (ESV)
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
I have to be honest; this is not my favorite verse. The
Christian life is a life of rest in Christ Jesus, but it is also a life of
promised suffering and difficulty. The first three words of the verse, “Share
in suffering,” is actually one word in the Greek. It means to suffer with
someone. Whether Timothy is instructed to share Paul’s suffering or Jesus’s
suffering I’m not sure. It seems likely that it is Paul’s suffering that he has
in mind. In either case, three things are true. First, we do not suffer alone. In
any suffering, we recognize that others suffer too and that whatever we experience,
Christ is there with us. Our suffering is never alone even when it feels like
it is. Second, suffering is not an unexpected anomaly in the life of the believer.
It is expected that the believer will have difficulties and even suffering. It
is easy to buy into a theology that says that God wants every believer healthy,
wealthy, and comfortable, but that it not what we see in the early church. We
see men and women who gave their lives for their faith. Third, this idea of
suffering is connected to three analogies to help make the point. He talks
about soldiers who train hard, athletes who follow the rules, and farmers whose
crops result from their hard work. In the Roman world the athletes had rules
not only for the competition, but also for how they were to train. Hard work,
hard training, and warfare are the three analogies Paul uses to make his point.
The Christian life is a life of resting in Christ, but it is not a life of
ease. It is a life of discipline, danger, and difficulty. Why would anyone sign
up for that? Because we do not suffer alone. Because the suffering is
temporary. The soldier wins the battle, the athlete wins the competition, the hard-working
farmer enjoys the fruits of his labor. Our suffering might be a lifetime, but
it is temporary. Can we trust him not only in the times of ease, but in the
dark times, the hard times as well? Now is not forever.
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