Is Our Suffering of the Flesh or of the Spirit?

One of the most difficult things we can go through in life is when we or a loved one are ill in some way, and suffering.  This has recently been my experience, and I did not handle it well at all.  When illness suddenly hits a loved one, your whole world can feel like it is falling apart.  You can also go on a very disturbing and turbulent roller coaster ride with your emotions, as you see your loved one maybe show some improvement, and then the next day, no improvement.  In my own situation, I cried out to God and I prayed hard.  In fact, I prayed until I had a personal breakthrough to get some peace about it.  So I'd like to share what the Lord showed me about suffering.  He directed me to the following verses:

 2Ti 1:7    For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

2Ti 1:8    Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

2Ti 1:9    Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

2Ti 1:10    But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

 The Lord gave me these Scriptures to show me that there are two kinds of suffering; one is to suffer in the flesh, and the other is to suffer in the spirit.  The second one has a purpose and it has power with it to overcome the suffering.  As Christians, we will suffer, but we are to only suffer for the furtherance of the Gospel.  Any other type of suffering is of the flesh, and manifests out of a heart of unbelief.  Unbelief is most pronounced when we are under severe trial.  When unbelief is present, fear comes in.  That's when we start to fall apart because we are not putting our trust in God.  When we put our trust in God, He gives us a peace that passes all human understanding.

 Suffering must be in accordance with His purpose and grace.  He gives grace where needed.  In other words, He gives us a buffer to deaden the pain as if it never existed.  While I was thinking about the two kinds of suffering, I realized that I had been suffering in the flesh because I was afraid.  I wasn't putting my trust in God for myself or my loved one.  The following verse also kept coming to mind:

 Psa 112:7    He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.

Every time I had a fearful thought, the Lord said that I was stepping into a land mine of fear, and I should get out quick.  When we are abiding in the Lord, our heart is stable, not fearful. There will be no rapid heartbeats or heart pounding because we will be filled with peace instead.

Fear blocks peace and blocks us from receiving the many Promises in God's Word that are ALREADY ours to take.  We are not given a spirit of fear, but love (without this we have insecurity), power (without this we are weak), a sound mind (without this we are confused and unable to make sound decisions).  All of these things, insecurity, weakness, and confusion are things of the flesh.  When we despair, we are not trusting in the Lord that He knows what He is doing.  The Lord wants to comfort us, but we must let go the fear, and take His Hand instead of clinging to the fear.

Have you ever wondered how the men in the Bible were able to withstand suffering and persecution?  They were in the spirit, not the flesh.  In other words, you can still have pain, grief, and so on, but no fear.  God gives you power, love and wisdom to overcome it and see you through.

Just remember that fear brings torment, and this is not of God.  Sometimes you have to deliberately fight hard against the fear.  You have to fight it until it leaves by using Scripture, and declaring the Word of God which always SUPERSEDES the fear.  When others pray and the prayers aren't getting through, it is likely fear that is blocking them.  The person you are praying for has to also let go of their own fear, command it to go until it is gone, then receive Jesus peace, their healing, and all the promises.  Fear will impede healing, faith will bring it to pass.

We also need to RECEIVE the promises just like when we get saved, we have to receive Jesus into our heart.  So we and those we pray for have to receive the healing, and let the fear go.

Every fearful thought is not of God, but we must be vigilant to not allow fear to overrule, and then fall victim to needlessly suffering in the flesh.  God has given us equipment to go through the suffering -- love, power and a sound mind.  When we dare to trust regardless of what we see in the physical, peace will be ours, and hope will fill our hearts.