Paul's Joy in Suffering for the Church's Sake

"Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you" (Colossians 1:24).

The vast region of human sorrow appears to most a dark and dreary desert. Yet if we saw truly, we should find many streams of refreshment, many sunny spots, and on all sides evidences of Divine tenderness. Here we find Paul at home in the region of suffering—rejoicing amid mysteries which fill most men with darkness. He had been led to understand that his sufferings were supplementary to those of Christ, and essential to the well-being of the Church.

Christ's sufferings reveal the Father's love for men. The outward manifestations of His suffering tell most of the inexpressible anguish of His heart. That it was terrible beyond human thought is indicated by the prophecies concerning the Man of Sorrows, by His sudden death of a broken heart, and by the exquisite sensibility of His holy nature. Yet His sufferings were borne voluntarily for men, springing from infinite love—compatible with, indeed the cause of, His unspeakable joy (Hebrews 12:2).

Paul's sufferings were twofold: those voluntarily endured for the Church's sake, and those personal and inevitable. He did not seek suffering for its own sake. As an end it was contemptible, but as a means to the well-being of the Church it was sublime. Paul's joy was not in the suffering itself, but in the love of which suffering was the medium of expression. As patriotic love inspires the soldier to bleed for his country, so love for men made the apostle ready to sacrifice anything, filled with Divine ecstasy.