THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERING - PART 1
- BY TODD BENTLEY
Date: 2006-05-16
This is a two-part testimony teaching entitled, The Fellowship of His Suffering, by Todd Bentley.
The wilderness is the last place most believers want to be. That’s understandable, since the notion of “biblical” suffering sets most people on edge. But it doesn’t have to. Not if you know of the joy set before you! Although the wilderness experience is a place of brokenness and shaking, it’s also a place of wonder, of change, of transition, of transformation, and of being intimately cared for by the Lord. Todd’s revelatory teachings derive from his own recent six-month journey into the valley and the foundation of God’s promises. As you read, you’ll come to a greater understanding of what suffering is, what it definitely isn’t, and how to rejoice in the midst of it.
“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” —Philippians 3:10
HARD-PRESSED BUT NOT CRUSHED
People cringe at the thought of suffering—the very word conjures uneasy thoughts. Believers sometimes refer to suffering as “wilderness time,” perhaps because it makes suffering easier to accept. However, it doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to endure.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you (2 Cor. 4:7–14).
Christians are often of the mindset that the wilderness is the last place they ever want to be. However, many have been there, and have lived to tell about it. In fact, it’s almost impossible, if not, downright impossible to teach or to minister to someone about biblical suffering, without ever having endured it oneself. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t taught on the subject in my eight years of ministry before this. As a believer, I’d never been in that valley of stripping and plucking, crushing and dying, and exploration and mining of the deepest innermost places of my heart. I’ve always taught from high places; the mountaintop of miracles, signs, and wonders, because until six months ago, that’s what I’ve known in my walk with the Lord.
Friends, it’s under the Lord’s tender care that I share with you the revelations God has given me about the cup of suffering, and what it is, and what it isn’t. I speak as a molting eagle, plucked and stripped, made weak so that the love and strength of the Father could be perfected and released more freely within me. I identify with the apostle Paul to whom God said: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness,” and whereby Paul responds, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)
The Lord has had me in His wilderness care and place of transformation for the past six months. I no longer wonder about this place. In fact, I understand it now and love it, for it is truly a place of wonder, of change, brokenness, transition, shaking, humility, reverent fear of the Lord, and of being ministered to and cared for.
“He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, So the LORD alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him. He made him ride in the heights of the earth, that he might eat the produce of the fields ...” (Deut. 32:10–13a).
No, I’ve never taught on suffering. I’ve preached miracles, signs, and wonders, but never on the miracle transformation power of the fellowship of suffering. I share with you now, though, while the experience is still fresh, still somewhat painful, but awesome. I hope to be an encouragement to you if you’re in that vulnerable place right now, if you’re on the edge or broken, if your cup of suffering is full, or to calm any fear or clarify any misconceptions you might have about the valley of the shadow.
God makes men and women of faith in the wilderness—in dry, lonely, desolate places, low valleys, and barren plains, where they are plucked and stripped, and where everything dies but the Living Seed, because we’re assured by Paul that “God has given the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Cor. 1:22).
SUFFERING IS GROWTH
The lonely wilderness is where our spiritual life grows. While it is a place of brokenness, it is also a time of hope—restoration, rebuilding, restructuring, and resurrection. It’s a time of embrace, where the heart, the agenda, and the motives are shaken to strengthen you. God promises that He will provide “water in the wilderness and rivers in the barren desert” (Is. 43:20).
Nobody likes to suffer, but it’s an encouragement to know that believers in the past and present have come to that place where they’ve drunk of the cup of suffering in the dry and desolate land. All arrive with a unique set of circumstances but guess what? They survive and trek out of the wilderness in power!
Elijah spent the first years of his ministry isolated and waiting in the wilderness, while God miraculously provided for him. Later on, he found himself there again, shortly after he witnessed God’s mighty power atop Mount Carmel. (1 Kings 19:2–5).
David spent time there as a youth and as king. God prepared him as a young shepherd caring for his herds in the lonely wilderness. He had to fight lions and bears, but this prepared him later to fight the giant Goliath and deal with Saul’s relentless pursuit to kill him after the people chose him king. Saul’s hunt drove David back into the wilderness. Later, as king, his own son, Absalom, forced him back in again and this time David waited in the wilderness of Mahanim (2 Sam. 17:24, 29) and in the gloomy woods of Ephraim (2 Sam. 18:6). Despite his lengthy time in the wilderness, David says, “As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, and set me before Your face forever.” (Ps. 41:12).
The apostle Paul frequented the wilderness in Arabia and in a sunken valley of the Dead Sea, one of the lowest places on earth! He spent time in a spiritual desert too, where he was mentored personally by Jesus (Gal. 1:12), and prepared for his ministry (vv. 17, 21). He renders a detailed account of his natural and spiritual wilderness experiences in 2 Cor. 11:26–28:
In journeys often, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.
There’s something about crying out from the wilderness that draws people. John the Baptist went to become strong in the Lord and preached repentance aloud from the wilderness of Judea. Isn’t that powerful? It was from the wilderness place that John cried out with all of his heart about the Messiah. People went out of their way to hear this man clothed in camel’s hair. Matthew’s account tells us that ALL Judea, and ALL the region around the Jordan went out to him, and many were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins (Matt. 3:1–4). People from miles around heard his cry.
God stirred up His nest for me as He did for the children of Israel in Deut. 32:11 and brought me to Himself as He did for them in Ex. 19:4. It’s from this nest that I cry out to you about the powerful work God can do in the place of suffering. Just as Christ cried out from the cross as He took His last breath: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” and then on the third day He is alive in resurrection power, so too we become alive in the resurrection transforming power of God in our place of loneliness. Just as the person who encountered Jesus and then spread His fame throughout the countryside telling of His mighty acts, I too share and boast about my cup of suffering, how God sustained me through it, and how I’ve shed my old covering in exchange for a new; transformed by the revelations of suffering.
SUFFERING IS A PROCESS
The analogy of the eagle appears more than thirty times in the Bible, sometimes to describe God as a parent eagle in a nest caring for His children, and often to metaphorically give us a picture that we can relate to, about growth in our Christian life. Often, those who have been in high places are taken into hidden, lonely places for a time of renewal, as you’ll recall Elijah was after his experience on Mount Carmel. Sometimes our wilderness experiences follow times of powerful revelations from the Lord. The Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness after the Lord audibly told the people that Jesus was His son, that Jesus was much loved, and that everyone should hear Him. Once there, He was severely tested. As such, our faith in His powerful revelations may also be tested.
At other times, we’re driven there just as Jesus withdrew to the wilderness from the crowds (Luke 5:15, 16). The psalmist wrote: “God satisfies our mouth with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagles” (Ps. 103:5).
It’s interesting to see the parallel between the eagle’s shedding process, and growth in our Christian walk. Although the majestic eagle soars to great heights, it also spends anxious days alone in the valley. So too, we as believers spend time on the mountain top, soaring with God, but at least once in our lifetime we suddenly find ourselves hidden away, lonely, and undergoing transformation in the cleft of the rock in the wilderness.
Does the eagle mount up at your command, and make its nest on high? On the rock it dwells and resides, on the crag of the rock and the stronghold. From there it spies out the prey; its eyes observe from afar. (Job 39:27-29)
Of all known birds, the eagle flies not only very high (Prov. 23:5; Jer. 49:16; Obad. 1:4, but with great swiftness (Deut. 28:49; 2 Sam. 1:23, Jer. 4:13; Lam. 4:19; Job. 9:25, 26). An eagle is appreciated for its strength (Ps. 103:5), its setting its nest in high places (Jer. 49:16), and its powerful vision (Job 39:27–30).
The powerful eagle’s survival is linked to its plumage,i as its feathers function to insulate, protect, transport, and identify it. Feathers may become worn out, frayed, or weakened by a build up of oil and dirt.ii With a wingspan of up to 8 feet, plumage should be light for soaring, and strong and tight to insulate eagles from the cold and wet. The bald eagle has several layers of feathers, each serving a different function. Under the outer layer of feathers is an inner layer of downy ones. God’s design of the feather’s interlocking nature is amazing!
Thus, often in their lifespan of thirty or so years, beginning about age four to five, they molt. They will not lose all of their plumage in a given molt,iii usually about one-half to two-thirds of all feathers, (starting from the head down, and in patches) but the process of shedding and regrowth in any given cycle may take months.
Eagles may descend for a molt, usually to a safe refuge in a hidden low place on the forest floor, or in the cleft of a rock, or crevice. Some cycles of the molt renders an eagle very weak. Most cannot fly or hunt because they may lose vital primary and secondary feathers and because it takes a great deal of energy and body resources to grow feathers. This is the time when eagles are in greatest danger, for since they use their energy stores—their fat for feather growth, they are less able to fight disease or stress. In their weakened state, they are also in danger from predators and the elements. Interestingly, some experts report that eagles lose their ability to tear, which diminishes their sharp vision. It is also said that calcium accumulates on their beaks, further hindering their survival.
At some stage of the molting process, the older, more mature eagles (who have experienced molting before) drop meat to replenish the molting eagle’s energy, because its oily fat stores are used to stimulate the growth of new feathers. Eventually the eagle gains enough strength to fly to a mountain or a high place and to beat or scrape its beak against a rock to break off the calcium. With renewed strength, the eagle soars against the wind to stimulate the flow of tears, and with vision restored; it flies higher and faster than ever. Some don’t make it through to the end of the molt; others don’t endure through the regrowth. However, those that do bear the process of transformation, rise again, stronger than ever before, their youth renewed, and they soar into higher realms than before.
There’s an interesting reference to this process in Micah 1:16: "Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, because of your precious children; enlarge your baldness like an eagle, for they shall go from you into captivity.” In those days, cutting off the hair was a sign of great distress, for instance, upon the death of a loved one. The suffering ended when the hair grew back. “Enlarging your baldness” referred to the rising of the eagle after casting its feathers and breeding new ones.
SUFFERING IS REST
The eagle’s trials and challenges are so similar to what I went through. I became weary and tired, I lost my vision, all desire, and passion for everything I loved. Poof! I lost my vision for souls, orphans, even reading the Bible. These things were taken from me so quickly that it had to be a supernatural removal. I believe that the Lord removed it from me so that He could accomplish a work, and then in time would give it back to me, just as quickly as He’d taken it away. There are two ways the eagle can restore its sight. Through tears and strong wind. The Lord used both to bring back my sight to me. He touched things that were so deep in my heart, things even from childhood that needed inner healing, that I wept and wept for a time up to five hours a day, especially in the first three weeks. It was then I realized I needed to pull back, rest, and just let the Lord do a work in my heart. It was time for me to be ministered to. My survival depended upon God’s word, which He fed me regularly to strengthen me, because I’d lost even my will to search it out for myself. (The Bible sometimes refers to the Word as “meat”, as in Hebrews 5:14: “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (KJV).
I couldn’t focus on anything else but my own pain. But do you know what? God said, “Just lie there, and let Me pour into you! Let Me take care of your wounds. Let Me change your bandages and let Me create more wounds so that I can accomplish My work in your life—so that I can strip you to bring your forth bigger and stronger!”
There were times in that six-month period that I just wanted to give up though. I considered going back to my early days of ministry, when things seemed less hectic, and simpler. I even asked God to take me home three times. I was in such pain—in such a place of discouragement and loneliness. But just as the eagle’s feathers regrow, and the oil flows, and it regains its strength and will to live, so have I! Everything I’ve ever loved in my walk, I love again as God has anointed me anew with fresh oil. God took me to the edge, and even though now I shake my head in wonderment as I understand why, I’m still in shock that I’d actually been there. While it might bewilder us that God would do such a thing, trust that if you fall, He will swoop down and scoop you up before your crash land. He hovers over you, never taking His eyes off you, even for a second. An eaglet cannot fall faster than its attentive parent can! God flies much faster than you!
SUFFERING IS HOPE
The cry of our hearts is like the cry of Paul who was to know Jesus in intimacy and in the power of His resurrection. He wrote, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Phil. 3:10). Jesus said that He learned obedience by the things that He suffered. The fellowship of His suffering is hope in the revelation of His resurrection power. God entrusts His resurrection power to those who live in the fullness and likeness of Christ working in them. God tries to form who He is in us so that we can live as overcomers, and believe for mighty miracles, even resurrection of the dead; great demonstrations of His power, and great revival and harvest. Thus the reason for the fellowship of His sufferings—so that we can be conformed to His death. The apostles had such a revelation of this that they bore testimony to the resurrection of Christ, for if it was proved that the Lord Jesus came to life again after having been put to death, it established all that He taught, and was a demonstration that He was sent from God. They exerted all their powers, therefore to prove this. Their success was great and multitudes were converted: “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33).
I believe the day will soon be upon us when Christ’s resurrection power will rise up in faithful men and women of God to perform mighty miracles such as the resurrection of the dead. There will be much emphasis in living in the fullness and likeness of Christ working in us, where we can become so Christ-like that we are entrusted with resurrection power.
How do we become Christ-like? Only the Spirit of Holiness can help us conform to the likeness of Christ: “And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” (Rom. 1:4). It has to be deep, not pasted on the outside, on the flesh. A process of consecration and sanctification often involves suffering so that God can work His character and perseverance in us. God deals with our hearts, even if it’s painful. He strips us of our feathers but that stripping stimulates the fatty oil to grow new, stronger ones. We’re given a fresh, new, and greater anointing to bear witness to the resurrection of Christ.
SUFFERING IS DEATH
Although we are alive, we were baptized into Christ and into His death. Hence, we are buried with Christ through baptism into death. Even though we haven’t literally died and been buried, it has already happened. In the same way, the promise is that you have been raised from the dead now, so you can live in the fullness of resurrection life now, just as fully as Christ is resurrected. This is how we bear witness to the resurrection of Christ with great power. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Rom. 6:3).
God is trying to work in us the likeness of His resurrection, and this can only come through the fellowship of His sufferings. We have to go through the garden to get to the resurrection. That’s where the oil press is, where the anointing will flow. God promises in Romans 6:4, that just as Christ was raised from the dead, even so we should also walk in the newness of life, for we have been united together in the likeness of His death, and most certainly also in the likeness of his resurrection. “And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Rom 8:17).
If indeed we persevere and suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together. Isn’t that exciting? Again, no one likes to suffer, but I tell you, it’s pretty exciting in light of the revelation of His resurrection power. Bring it on Lord, bring it on! If there is a work that God needs to do, I’d rather He do it now. Let me drink from the cup of suffering so that I can get to where we’re going, because I want to live in the resurrection life and power, I want to be glorified with Jesus! “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18). The glory is that we move into the manifestation of His power as the sons of God.
i http://www.nativebirds.org/Molt.html
ii www.baldeagleinfo.com
iii www.wbsj.org/
In Part 2 of The Fellowship of His Suffering, Todd will conclude his teaching describing what suffering is, and examining in detail what suffering definitely isn’t. Discover the apostle Paul’s secret to rejoicing in suffering, and learn how to release joy in the midst of it. You will also discover how our scars can encourage others.
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