We’re All in This Together

The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man...” In other Barnabas Notes we have spoken about the comforting aspect of the rest of this verse (i.e. that God will provide a way of escape from temptation), but for this week I want to talk about the comfort we find in fellowship; in this case, fellowship in suffering. Now, I do not want you to think that I am glad you suffer so that I do not feel all alone, or that any of us should glory in the suffering of others. What I mean is that it helps to know that what I suffer has been suffered by others who have endured.

I know that when things go wrong in my life, I am tempted to think that I am the only one ever to have gone through something like that. No one could possibly have had it as rough as I have it, I think. One very dangerous result of that kind of thinking is that I may well be tempted to think that it is alright if I succumb to the temptation to “curse God and die” when I am suffering (see Job 2:9), because if anyone else had ever suffered this they would understand. It makes us begin to excuse our sins rather than truly repent of them.

We have not all been where Isaiah was in Isaiah 6:1-5 (in the throne room of Jehovah God), but he showed us the proper attitude to have when we sin. “Woe is me, for I am undone!” is a good response to our own sin. We all have been in the position Peter found himself in when the rooster crowed that morning just after he had denied Jesus for the third time. No, we have not stood outside a house where Jesus was being held and denied him by “cussin” maybe, but we have all denied Him, just the same. When it dawned on Peter what he had done, he went out and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75).

I have been there. Have you? I suspect that most of us have. In fact, if Romans 3:23 is true and we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, then we have all been where Peter was and we should have the same attitude with regard to our sin. It may feel like no one could possibly have suffered like I have, but that does not excuse my sin and it does not excuse my giving in to the temptation to let myself be overcome by evil rather than overcoming evil with good (Romans 12:21).

No, you are not in this alone. We are all in this together. I hope that the things I have learned because of what I have suffered will help you or someone who needs it. By the same token, I continue to be helped and strengthened by the things that others have suffered before me. We are all in this together and I thank God Almighty that He went through it first and showed us that we can overcome. Have a great week and know that God loves you and so do I.