"""SUFFERING"""

1 PETER 3:13-17¹³ Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats^[a]; do not be frightened.”^{[b] 15} But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷ For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

    This passage was not written to the nonbelievers, it was written specially for "believers" who act WITHOUT FAITH or in BAD FAITH. I believe I have mentioned this before but, just as a child is punished by its father....as are we by God.  We are his children. If we are acting out of bad faith he is going to punish us for already knowing better.  Often times when we get hurt by someone we automatically feel that we need some kind of apology or we feel that we need to hurt the person who hurt us, so they can feel what it is to hurt like we are.  If this happens ... you are only setting yourself up for destruction.  It is never good to pay a wrong with another wrong.  We are only human, but just as a human can chose to hurt someone...a human can also chose to turn the other way and LOVE THIER ENEMIES as well.  I know that is easier said than done, but I DARE YOU TO TRY IT!!!!! Let God deal with all the unnessecary arguments and petty things in life... worry that you are doing everything in your own might to earn eternal life!

   If we are constantly doing good in our lives, then our only goal is to WAIT  for the good to come our way.  So many times we say to ourselves..."why is God doing this to me"..."he sees all the good I do for everyone else in this world"......You are right! He does see all the good you do, but also he expects for you to be patient in the bringing of the good as well.  Don't sit and expect a thank you from NO ONE! You arent doing good to impress MAN... but someone so much more powerful and worthy than man. We should just be able to help others without needing anything in return to satisfy our own being. DOING GOOD IS OUR PROTECTION AGAINST THE EVIL!
   I understand if you are the type of person to sit there and pick out every single bad defect of those around you.....but look at it this way.... Say you are sitting next to a filthy homeless person....you have no idea why that person is in that situation, but still you sit there picking out his defects (stinky, smells bad, probably never went to school)....then he starts to talk to you and you hesitate to converse back with him, but not to be overly rude you mumble back to him a response. Then he leaves your side.......and from a distance you see that he is helping an elderly lady with the door, then someone drops some money and he picks it up and gives it back to the owner without hesitation..without expecting anything in return!!! And then he walks out the same way he came in and goes about his way.  The purpose of this little story, is to show you that we can choose to see the defects of the people surrounding us, but to all the good that they do instead covers up all of those other defects.  That is a TRUE BLESSING, to be able to see the good in EVERYONE. 

   This passage covers so much that we experience in life and pretty much sums life up in one small paragraph.  Sometimes we suffer (so many of us do).  But we are suppose to treat these sufferings as blessings. I know that seems very difficult to understand, but as you already know they are meant for us to learn from and be stronger the next time around.  In the moments that we suffer the most is when God is testing our faith the most.  When we see our loved ones suffering or friends suffering, don't automatically judge them for whatever it is that they are going through.....but motivate them to want to be better. This is another reason why we suffer the way we do, so that we can help others who are going through something that we already have been through....and what helped us and what didnt.  

    For those of us who have made a durastic change for Christ, (stopped drinking, smoking, drugs, etc...) we need to accept those types of sufferings (the way a Christian is suppose to act)... and embrace that not doing those things anymore is WORTH IT.... because in the end we will live forever in peace with our Lord...and that is our hope (that is our ANSWER.)!! Stay firm in your belief and just let the Lord take care of the rest.  If it is God's will for us to suffer, then SO BE IT, accept it, because you know what waits for you after this world-something more precious and valuable then the prize for doing evil and foolish self centered things. GOD KNOWS WHY HE DOES WHAT HE DOES!!!!!!!