Our Christian life should exhibit that same joy. Christ has run the race ahead of us and claimed the prize, but we tend to live life as less than conquerors, bogged down by perceptions of our old self, our sins, our struggles, never claiming the victory that Christ has won for us from our Father. Certainly, our sanctification is a lifelong process, and some sins have become Enemy strongholds, which take time to tear down. Some things we may struggle with our entire lives as the apostle Paul did. We should also express daily thanks to God for His grace in saving us. However, if we’re not careful, we can still look at ourselves as sinners who have been saved, rather than as saints who occasionally sin. We can become caught in a circular practice of commission and repentance, omission and defenselessness, always seeing victory as something yet to be achieved, like a trophy behind a locked glass case. We must see ourselves as we truly are now. As Paul writes,

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:31-37)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our
faith….” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

And, as Eric Mataxas, biographer of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the martyred saint of Nazi Germany, writes of Bonhoeffer’s life:

“This was how Bonhoeffer saw what he was doing….It [the Christian life] was God’s call to be fully human, to live as human beings obedient to the One who had made us, which was the fulfillment of our destiny. It was not a cramped, compromised, circumspect life, but a life lived in a kind of wild, joyful, full-throated freedom….”

Brothers, we will struggle against our flesh until that amazing day of our glorification. Until then, we wield the weapons of our warfare to destroy and bring down every lofty opposition raised against our faith. We walk in newness of a life restored and redirected by our King. We run the race set before us with endurance, knowing that our prize of eternal life is already won! And, we must look at ourselves as God sees us through the lens of Christ’s atoning blood: as victors over sin and death. We each of us now wear the Maillot Blanc, the white jersey of God’s cycling team. In Him, we must daily step onto His podium, and with sobs of unfathomable joy, claim our prize!

If I allow it to, however, this comfort in which I live insulates me from the reality of pain and suffering in the world, in the lives of those around me, and in my own life. Everything about our modern society revolves around minimizing and eliminating need, pain, discomfort, anything that challenges our sense of well being. Moreover, our cultural dictates drive us to maintain a safe, predictable lifestyle and avoid, as much as possible, hardship and suffering. Snuggled up in our warm, cozy lives, we can easily, and willingly, miss the amazing opportunity to surrender to our King by sharing in something Christ and the apostles regularly  experienced: pain, hardship, and suffering.

Along with yielding to Christ comes the invitation, the command, to share in His sufferings. I struggle desperately with this concept because it is so contrary to modern life, but crucial to the Christian life. As Paul writes:

“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear I still have.” (Philippians 1:29, 30)

“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted….” (2 Timothy 3:12)

“But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For this you have been called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” (1 Peter 2:20, 21)

The fact is, brothers, that, while suffering is a difficult reality to accept, it is absolutely necessary to our becoming more Christ-like, more sanctified, over time. As I look back over the course of my life to this point, I am dumbfounded by the hardship and pain God graciously allowed me to endure for the sole purpose of refining me, thereby fashioning me ever more closely into the image of His Son. I expect that some measure of the same is true in your lives, too.

What is the point, then, of pain, suffering, and hardship? It drives us to God, to the foot of the cross. It keeps us focused on doing His will instead of our own, fighting the good fight of faith for His glory. It strips away all the things we would hold onto in our own strength, keeping us totally reliant on our Savior. And, it
promises us this:

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James
1:2-4; 12)

If we would TOTALLY SURRENDER to Him, we must maintain a godly perspective on hardship and suffering, for in doing so we prepare ourselves for the difficulties we are certain to face.