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November 5, 2026 • 3 Minute Read
Suffering is the Expectation, not the Exception
Suffering is the Expectation, not the Exception “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” -Acts 14:22 Suffering is often avoided as much as possible. Have a headache? Take some medicine. Have a bad day? Binge some Netflix. Don’t know what to do about the future? Spend time doomscrolling until you fall asleep. In every circumstance of life, we generally want to make it as comfortable as possible. But what if discomfort is the way to grow? I am not anti-medicine. I am not even anti-entertainment to help your brain get space to process. But I do think we often forget that growth takes discomfort. Think about a skill you learned. Playing the guitar, riding a bike, driving a car, painting. You have endure the discomfort of not knowing what to do in order to get to the place of growth. You have to endure the blisters on your fingers. The ability to visualize your goal without the ability to get there. You have to face the fear of messing up in order to finally learn. It is no different in God’s Kingdom. Look at the King. Jesus said, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”(Matt. 8:20) Jesus’s whole life was one filled with suffering. The pain of losing Joseph at a young age. Having to take over providing for His earthly family. He had to spend His life basically homeless and a nomad, relying on the generosity of others for somewhere to sleep and something to eat. Not to mention being left by those who He had spent years teaching and loving, being betrayed by one of His closest friends, and being killed on a cross. In all of that suffering, He displayed the unwelcomeness of the Kingdom of God in this world. When we follow the King, we will suffer. Not because God doesn’t care. But because we belong to a Kingdom that has a different ethic. We love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us. We seek out those the world casts out. We welcome the broken, the addict, the hurting, and lost. Because that is who we were before Christ saved us. The troubles of life are necessary. Why? Because those who belong to an eternal Kingdom will always suffer in the world of temporal problems. We long for life everlasting. The world is filled with death. We long for the peace of Jesus. The world is filled with war. We long for the marriage supper of the Lamb. The world is filled with spiritual famine. As we live in this earth… the question isn’t, “will we suffer?” it is, “how will we suffer?” “For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him.” (Phi. 1:29) Suffer well. Knowing that it will demonstrate to the world that there is hope. Not found in escaping suffering. But found in the imitation of the suffering Servant. And know that Christ will reward all those who suffer for Him with the greatest gift. Himself. Grace and peace.
November 9, 2026 • 7 Minute Read
Surrender Your Past
Weekly Devotional – November 9-13, 2026 Monday: Reflection: “…if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more…” Philippians 3:4 Paul was raised to be an elite Jewish religious figure. He had parents that kept the Law well on his behalf until his own zeal grew. He spent most of his life working hard to be perfect. After following Jesus, he then began to see all of that as useless. But before we get to that idea, what would it look like for you to have been that same level of “perfection”? Would it be your church attendance? Your Bible reading? Your prayer time? Maybe how holy others think you are? Have you ever found yourself spending time worrying if others think you are Christian enough? I think we struggle so hard with this because we care too much about what others think and not enough about what Christ thinks. Religion is for other people. We all know the weaknesses and brokenness of our own hearts. But maybe, just maybe, others will think we are more put together. None of us are as good at that game as Paul. So maybe we can stop playing it. And instead, we can give up the charade and be real with God about who we are. That might get a lot further with others, too. Question: Where are you pretending to be more “holy” than you are? What do you think God wants with that area of your life? Tuesday: Reflection: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss…” Philippians 3:7 Our past success is dangerous. I have met people who have coasted on their success. I have been the person who has tried to as well. With the many expectations of a pastor, there have been times when I went into a Bible study and did not prepare. The worst part is that I don’t think others even noticed. But I did. My walk with Christ became drier. My heart more dull. And I missed the opportunity to see the new thing God wanted to show me. Have you ever done that? Relied on past intimacy with God rather than being near Him now? In those moments, the temptation is to look back and say, “I must be close with Jesus. Look how much I have learned. How much I know!” But we are never stagnant in our relationship with God. We are either growing closer through regular connection. Or we are drifting, even if indifferently. Today, if you will let Him, the Spirit of God wants to let you enjoy your past intimacy with Him. Not as a replacement for the current thing. But as fuel for greater desire for Him now. Don’t miss it for the fake. Question: Are there any times you find yourself coasting with God? What causes that? How can you move back towards regular connection? Wednesday: Reflection: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.” Philippians 3:7 If I gave you a million dollars, what would you do with it? Buy a new house? Move to the coast? Maybe pay off all of your debts? Now what would you do for a million dollars? Work a couple years? How about if you had to spend one hour every day for the rest of your life with me? Would the million be worth it then? Isn’t Jesus worth more than a million dollars? I say that with tears in my eyes. How many times have we skipped time with Him or just gone through the motions in our walk with Him?.. Yet, my goal in bringing this up isn’t to shame you. But to invite you to remember the treasure that is available to you even now. Jesus is worth more than all the treasures in this world. And He wants to meet with you. Every morning He will reveal more of His love and goodness to you. The only deterrent is our willingness.
Don’t let today be another day of missing it. Count everything else (your plan, your worries, your goals, your phone) as loss for the sake of Christ today. Question:
When do you find it hardest to treasure Jesus above everything else? What is one way you can start reorienting Him to being the treasure in your life? Thursday: Reflection: “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.” 1 Corinthians 1:26 Getting picked last is an awful feeling. Whether it is for sports, for a date, or for work. Maybe you feel like the last pick. Sometimes in life we can be better at spotting all of our weaknesses and flaws more than our strengths. But have you ever considered that isn’t how Christ looks at you. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul talks about their past. He points out that each of them were not the best of the best. They were the last picks. Most of human history has been characterized by the least ideal people becoming a part of God’s family. Whether it is murdering Moses, lying Abraham, or doubting Thomas. They’re not all the best. But God does this on purpose. He loves to choose those who are last and left out. Not because He sees them that way. But because those who are weak are the ones aware of their need for His strength. Maybe you feel like you don’t have much to offer. While that isn’t true… Maybe that is the space that God wants you to see more of His strength there. Because God’s power is made perfect in weakness. Question: Is there a place you find yourself weak? What would it look like for God’s strength to be displayed there? Friday: Reflection: “…forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead...” Philippians 3:13 There are so many unforgettable things in the past. First love. First heartbreak. First time you discovered a hobby. Maybe even the first time you tried ice cream. But most of us have things in the past we would love to forget. The mistake that cost us a close relationship. The decisions that led to our current problems. Maybe it is the list of things others have said that we cannot quite let go of. Like their words are etched into our ears. Forgetting those things would require a miracle. Paul says he had “forgotten what lies behind”. But what does that actually look like? Does it mean Paul didn’t remember it? No. He meant that he stopped allowing it to be his identity. He was a Pharisee. But now he was a follower of Jesus. He was a murderer of believers. Now he was a sufferer for others. The change didn’t remove the past. But it changed his perspective. I cannot promise that you will forget all the stuff you wish you could. But God has so much more for you in Christ than what lies behind you. Today, make sure to fall on His grace again. That for those in Jesus, our past is just prologue for what He wants to do in and through you. Question: What area of your past do you need to leave behind? How can you offer that over to Jesus in surrender today?Share Your Prayer Request
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