1105 与祂一同受苦
…倒要欢喜；因为你们是与基督一同受苦，使你们在他荣耀显现的时候，也可以欢喜快乐。 《彼得前书4:13》
如果你要蒙神使用，祂会带你经历许多根本不是特别针对你个人的经历。那些经历的设计是为了让你在祂的手中有用，并使你能够理解别人生活中发生的事。因着这个过程，你永远不会对你的遭遇感到诧异。你说：「哦，我无法应付那个人。」为什么你不能？神给了你足够的机会向祂学习那个问题；但你却转身离开，没有留意那个功课，因为那花费你的时间似乎是愚昧的。
基督所受的苦难不是普通人的苦难，祂「照神的旨意」受苦（彼得前书 4:19），祂对苦难的观点与我们不同。只有通过我们与耶稣基督的关系，我们才能理解神处理我们的目的是什么。当苦难临到，我们基督教文化的一部分就是想要事先知道神的旨意。在基督教会的历史上，人们倾向于避免与耶稣基督同受苦；人们试图通过他们自己的捷径来完成神的命令。神的道路永远是受苦的道路——「漫长回家」的道路。
我们是否与基督同受苦？我们是否预备好让神除去我们个人的野心？我们是否预备好让神借着超自然转化来摧毁我们个人的决定？那就意味着我们不知道神为什么要那样带领我们，因为知道就会让我们灵性骄傲。我们从来无法在当时明白神让我们经历什么——我们在经历中或多或少是不明白的。然后突然间，我们来到了醒悟之时，也明白——「神已经加力量给我，而我甚至不知道！」
来自章伯斯的智慧
狂热分子是一个将自己确立在无法征服的无知中的人。《力图更佳战斗》
1105 Partakers of His Suffering
…but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings… —1 Peter 4:13
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, “Oh, I can’t deal with that person.” Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered “according to the will of God” (1 Peter 4:19), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the “long road home.”
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— “God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
A fanatic is one who entrenches himself in invincible ignorance. —Baffled to Fight Better, 59 R