What do you turn to while suffering? What brings encouragement and hope? The Christian reply is usually called “the church” answer, Jesus! God! The Bible! Those are true, but what does turning to the Triune God and His Word mean?

The war rages in Israel. As report after report comes out from the horrors and atrocities of Hamas and their surprise attack began on October 7th, the levels of depravity towards the Jewish people have not been seen on this scale since the Holocaust. In the age of smart phones, almost every person has a camera at hand ready to record every evil act committed. The depraved human heart shines forth as Hamas clearly does not care about Just War Theory or the Geneva Conventions. Read more about the The Raging War of Absolute Truth.

We get a glimpse of Paul’s sufferings in the Scriptures. He was not naïve, he knew the Christian’s call was to suffer as our Lord has suffered. He also recognized that a minister of the Word will suffer greater, for ministers suffer also for the sake of the church. But then he makes an interesting statement by writing, “…in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” Is he saying something is missing from what Christ suffered?