Suffering for a crown

By DUNCAN MANGO
Published April 2, 2010

If anyone is in a place of suffering right now, they are in great company. About this time, 2000 years ago, the greatest man who ever lived was going through blood, sweat and tears just thinking of the travail of the cross.

He said it Himself that for a seed to produce a tree, it has to die. And we know that for a mother to hold a newborn baby, she has to labor. For a stone to become a statue, it has to be sculptured. For a piece of metal to become an ornament it passes through searing heat and heavy hammering. So for God to save a soul, He sent His son to endure the shameful death on the cross. But now in Hebrews 2:9, we are able to see Jesus, who was ranked lower than the angels for a little while, crowned with glory and honor because of His having suffered death.

It seems like you have to lose a piece of you to become the whole of you. Nothing worthy is shaped without some part of it being sacrificed. When God wanted to show Jeremiah how He longs to deal with Israel, He sent him down to the potters house to make him see how the potter re-shapes stubborn clay into new moulds as he desires.

Suffering has been honored for ages. Every country has a medal of honor for a soldier who went beyond the call of duty. Every company celebrates its founders who endured losses at the beginning when no one saw the vision they had. Even a politician knows his past will be dug into during electioneering. Yet they endure because the joy of the inauguration cannot be compared to the suffering of the election.

Likewise, our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Yet our God is faithful, and He can be trusted not to let us be tried beyond our ability to endure. If He allows you to suffer it, He has provided for you to bear it.

Like Joseph, you are just passing by the pit on your way to the palace – because after you have suffered a while, as Peter says in 5:10, the God of all grace will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Wear your suffering well. It is a crown.

Duncan Mango is a Johannesburg-based business & executive coach, who partners with Christian professionals and business owners to achieve unparaled success in their careers. He blogs at http://duncanmango.wordpress.com. Reach him at +27 83 310 7070 or mango@afronaissance.com