Areas of ministry, a question

[sunshine2777]

There are so many different ministries that the Lord can use us in w/ our spiritual gifts. I do have a question though. Does anyone believe that there is the ministry of suffering?

I'm looking at Job and some christian's lives. Could the Lord literally give us a ministry where we sustain trial and pain (extensive amounts) and we are used as examples to show others how to react, how to keep the faith and to give them strength in their own trials? ( I hope I'm asking this the right way). To me Job's ministry was to suffer and show other believers how to react, that it is possible to keep the faith and still love the Lord, etc. When trials are multiple and long lasting, to the point where hanging on and keep the faith and surviving is all you can do.... its almost impossible to get involved in many ministries and areas of service.

Thinking out loud here.... there is ministry of teaching, praying, mercy, etc. Ok, before I rattle on too long, any thoughts out there? Thanks bunches!

[fracturedInfinity]

I don't really think that suffering is considered a ministry. I believe you can use your past suffering as a means of encouraging others.

To understand about Christian suffering, take a look at
1 Peter 3:8-22
1 Peter 4:12-19

I hope this helps. :hat

[kelli]

Yes, we will suffer

Philippians 3:10
to know him, and the power of his rising again, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death,

[Paidfor]

There are so many different ministries that the Lord can use us in w/ our spiritual gifts. I do have a question though. Does anyone believe that there is the ministry of suffering?

I'm looking at Job and some christian's lives. Could the Lord literally give us a ministry where we sustain trial and pain (extensive amounts) and we are used as examples to show others how to react, how to keep the faith and to give them strength in their own trials? ( I hope I'm asking this the right way). To me Job's ministry was to suffer and show other believers how to react, that it is possible to keep the faith and still love the Lord, etc. When trials are multiple and long lasting, to the point where hanging on and keep the faith and surviving is all you can do.... its almost impossible to get involved in many ministries and areas of service.

Thinking out loud here.... there is ministry of teaching, praying, mercy, etc. Ok, before I rattle on too long, any thoughts out there? Thanks bunches!

Well yes and maybe no. Suffering is a part of any Christian's life. But your life in Christ will never consist only of suffering. After all, the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When you have these in your life it would be hard to consider it a life of sorrow and pain.

But suffering is a part of our walk and will, therefore be part of our ministry to others. Paul puts it this way.

2Co 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
2Co 1:2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2Co 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
2Co 1:4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
2Co 1:5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
2Co 1:6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
2Co 1:7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

So we see that we suffer as Christ suffered and as Paul suffered and as many brothers and sisters in your life have suffered. They are an example to us of patient endurance. When we endure pain with patient endurance we are better able to help those who are similarly distressed. When looked at in this light, it is a great benefit to have suffered pain and loss.

[freyasfav]

A book I read called "Prepare for War" made short mention with a Bible verse speaking on "standing the gap." Not a ministry, but it was implicated if you pray to "stand the gap" for another, God could allow you to bear some of the attack & what not being directed at that person. The book was on spiritual warfare, but if God let you take some shots for someone you love, it may ease their suffering some-though they won't be aware of it.

[kelli]

This is a very good article on the ever-increasing demands of faith:
http://www.worldchallenge.org/node/5308

[evensocomequickly]

that is a good question, and good answers. I do not know if suffering would be considered a ministry, I don't think I would say so. I do know of 2 people who have to endure pain and suffer every day of their lives, it limits everything they can do, and it does seem all they can do to survive, they are not enduring what Job endured of course, but I will say to everyone, really take pity on people who have to deal with these things, it is very hard, not knowing if you'll be able to get out of bed the next day, walk, make it an appointment, do your duties you are called to each day. And to be in pain all the time is so hard on a person. (God never gives us more than we can handle) These 2 are serving the Lord, and they are an example to people to never forsake the Lord under any circumstance. But I also think God may be working with them, getting them to where he wants them, shaping and molding, you never know God's plan. But he gives them the strength to endure all these things.

[mary]

Thanks for sharing each one of you
on this thread! I enjoyed each one
of them.

[InHisGrip]

I'm just throwing this out as a thought. Don't you think that suffering actually works as a springboard into other areas of ministry? I can think of many examples where people's sufferings were used by God to bring them a ministry or to further the ministry they had already been given.
If you look at Job, he lacked any special talent or ability. He was a regular guy with friends and a family. In Joni Eareckson Tada's life, we actually noticed her talents because of her suffering and limitations. If I look at Paul's life, would his ministry have looked the same without the suffering? I don't know about suffering as a ministry, but I do think suffering gives you a ministry, or changes the ministry that God has already given you.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it."
------ Helen Keller

I recently read a rather long article on Watchman Nee's life. I had never really known that much about him and I found the entire article fascinating. He was afflicted with poor health, was mistreated often and saw many that he loved and cared about suffer too. But through it all, he said that he learned much about the Lord and the ministry that he had been given.

The definition of ministry is:
The act of ministering

So, I guess my question would be can you minister to others with just suffering? Can suffering be an action?

[Paidfor]

When we speak of a ministry, I don't think that we are speaking of something that someone else has or something that someone else does. I believe that if you want to see ministry the way Christ intended just go up to the prayer section of this forum, There you will see people who have problems and there is almost always someone who has been through the same thing and can encourage them and comfort them. These people are not here by accident. God has placed each here so that the one may encourage and the other be encouraged. The new command that Jesus gave before He was crucified was that we love one another as He loves us. When we see the brethren encouraging one another and praying for one another, that is the love of Christ being poured out in our lives. I think this is how Jesus wants His Church to work.

Bearing one another's burdens is something that we all do. In my first post in this subject I posted some verses from 2nd Corinthians. The Lord led me to those verses when I was having some health problem. He let me know that this was happening so that I would have some empathy for others. The HS does this work in our lives to prepare us to be good and helpful servants of His Kingdom. He takes away our heart of stone and replaces it woth a heart of flesh.

There are those that have a special calling in this area. But we all look ultimately to Christ as our model. He is the model of our faith. If we look to Paul, Paul looks to Christ. If we look to Christ, and someone else is help by looking to our courage in troubling times, then it is still Christ who is the source of encouragement.

Well, I have rambled a little bit.:)