We live in perilous times. People of all manner of faithfulness to Christ are Suffering, as much, if not more, than the ungodly. Unemployment, illnesses, relational upheavals, natural disasters and ungodliness seem to be taking an ever-increasing toll these days. We hear the cry for help from supporters requesting prayer. We see it in the faces of the Pastors and Ministry Leaders every week. There is a clear sense that the magnitude and intensity of oppression and affliction has increased. Many find themselves near a breaking point, while trying simply to tread water in the stormy seas of life. What are we to do? Where are we to find Comfort?

Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul the Apostle provided a powerful word of spiritual insight from his own life of intense Suffering…

“For as the Sufferings of Christabound in us,

so our Consolationalso abounds through Christ.

Now if we are Afflicted,it is for your Consolation and Salvation,

which is effective for enduringthe same Sufferings.”

2 Cor 1.5

From this passage, God has revealed two to Fundamental Truths: 1) that Suffering can have an eternal Purpose, and 2) that Suffering can be Comforted at this time, in these days. Indeed, the very Purpose may have everything to do with us Comforting other people. It is not that God enjoys our Suffering, or desires to see us strain and struggle under the power of oppression. Indeed, it is quite the opposite. God’s intended Purpose for mankind never included the reality or effects of Suffering, sin, selfishness or death. Yet here we are…in a virtual cesspool of sin and Suffering. As sinners (saved by grace), we should embrace the sober reality of what sin produced…Suffering that God never intended. And yet now, through the obedience of His faith-filled people, an opportunity exists for God to redeem that Suffering…

“Beloved, do not think it strangeConcerning the Fiery Trial

Which is to try you,As though some strange thing

Happened to you.But rejoice to the extent

That you partake of Christ’s Sufferings,That when His glory is revealed,

You also may be gladWith exceeding joy.”

1 Peter 4.12

Suffering is not strange or unusual. It is quite normal and expected in this fallen world. For some it serves no eternal purpose, and may even come as recompense. But for a Christian, Suffering without Purpose is a lie of the enemy. God redeems the sinful things, the sad things, the devastations, the disappointments…for His holy and perfect Purposes…if we allow Him. That may sound quite theological and lofty, but it is realistic? Is it true? Is it even Comforting?! Perhaps one testimony will shed some Light…

Bishop Francis was an unusual man in many regards. He was the overseer of eight churches, and yet humbled himself to attend the DSM Bible School. He attended only occasionally, due to his many illnesses and afflictions. Yet in short order, he impacted many inside and outside the school, and those inside and outside the family of God. He was a very vocal and strong supporter of the Ministry.

When we met Francis in early 2010, his numerous and serious physical afflictions were in remission. Eight years earlier, Francis had been the victim of an industrial accident that polluted and poisoned his entire body. The symptoms later manifested in a debilitating and excruciatingly painful skin disease. To describe the physical reality of his suffering would sound surreal and exaggerated…and would, in fact,

be doing a great injustice to the magnitude of his affliction. Francis’ skin literally fell off in large flakes on a constant, unremitting basis. It was so disfiguring a disease, that many found it difficult to even look at him. He wore clothes from head to foot while in public…only showing his face. The distorted appearance of his face alone was enough to cause most to distance themselves from him. He was only 37 years old…yet appeared to be a quite elderly man.

This Suffering was not Francis’ fault by any measure…in that sense, he was innocent. He had no recourse against his employer…in that sense, he was a helpless victim. And yet the man had a joy, peace and Purpose unlike any other. What was the difference?

Bishop Francis believed with all of his heart that God could heal him completely at any time. Indeed, we witnessed several miraculous recoveries and reprieves when he was on the brink of death. Faith in healing was the easier part. But it was his Faith without healing that made him a Vessel of Honor in God’s hands. He told me…

“People want to listen to me now.They want to hear my story.They ask me how I endure.

Then I tell them about my Lord.They know my pain and my suffering.So they know I am not speaking lies.

They know I am speaking from my heart…and from a broken body.

I have come to realize that God uses my illnessto reach more people for Christ now,

than I ever did when I was well.”

Indeed, his Suffering mobilized the entire Bible School for fervent prayer, fasting and works of mercy. For months on end, teams of DSM Pastors and Ministry Leaders regularly visited him in the hospital and at home. Every week they brought the comfort and compassion of Christ to Francis, his wife and seven young children. The DSM students came back changed…spiritually strengthened…built up in the Faith. The Bishop’s fiery trial somehow comforted them to endure their own trials with more faith, more certainty, and more assurance in Christ.

When well enough, Francis would come to school…and he was always welcomed as a living Hero of the Faith. The teaching would stop…we would invite him to the pulpit…and Francis would seemingly “come alive” while testifying of God’s faithfulness, provision, protection and Purpose in his seemingly broken life. Indeed, it was because of Francis’ Suffering, that we were Comforted. His living testimony gave us all Strength, Rest and Hope…in God’s Compassion, Concern and Faithfulness. God provided us the Blessing of seeing a man walk by Faith in Christ…and be sustained day-by-day by the sovereign hand of God. And that is why we affectionately referred to him as a hero of Faith. For by sight, he remained a broken, shattered man even in the best of times.

In late April, Francis succumbed to his final physical battle. It was just more of the same that he had Suffered for nearly a decade: more painful, more gruesome, more intolerable. He died an agonizingly slow and painful death. And yet his Faith in God never wavered. He knew to his very end that God had never once forsaken him…rather, all mankind had, at some point, forsaken God. And the wonder of it all is that this sinful, tragic, fallen world is not our end. Not for God’s children. Indeed, it was Francis’ death that gave us the greatest relief. For God had finished a work in us…and then lovingly released His soldier from this earthly battle…

“The righteous perishes,And no man takes it to heart.Merciful men are taken away,

While no one considersThat the righteous

Is taken away from evil.He shall enter into peace.

They shall rest in their beds,Each one walking

In his uprightness.”Is 57.1

God’s complete Comfort is never fully realized on this side of eternity. But His Comfort is sufficient for today. Bishop Francis was able to continue serving God’s people solely because of God’s grace, life and power in him. And we are all the better for God’s work through him. We were given Consolation, as much as Francis endured Affliction. And now, by his witness, we have been Comforted, made more able and more ready to endure our own Sufferings in this fallen world.

The greatest spiritual impact…comes in the Fiery Furnace of Affliction.

Bishop Francis’ cane pictured above

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