“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

Reflection

Paul desired to know Yeshua completely, not only through the power of His resurrection, but also through the fellowship of His sufferings. Following Messiah includes seasons of joy and spiritual strength, but it can also include rejection, pain, and times when God seems distant.

The question is whether we will remain faithful through both.

Song of Songs chapter 5 gives us a picture that can help us understand this kind of testing. In the passage, a woman goes looking for the man she loves after realizing that he has gone away. She calls for him and searches for him, but she cannot find him.

She says, “I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and had gone! My heart went out to him as he spoke. I searched for him but I did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me” (Song of Songs 5:6).

Spiritually, this can picture seasons in our relationship with Yeshua when we seek Him but do not immediately sense His presence. We know by faith that He has not abandoned us, yet He can sometimes seem far away.

As the woman continues searching, the watchmen of the city find her, strike her, and wound her (Song of Songs 5:7). Her search has now become painful.

This can remind us that trials sometimes involve not only feeling distant from God, but also being wounded by other people. We may be misunderstood, betrayed, spoken against, or treated unfairly. Even fellow believers can disappoint and wound us.

When these things happen, how will we respond?

Pain can tempt us to withdraw from Yeshua, become offended with God, or allow the opinions and actions of other people to weaken our devotion to Him. But difficult seasons can also become places where our faith is strengthened and deepened.

Paul understood this. He had suffered great loss, yet his desire was still to know Messiah more deeply. He wanted to experience both the power of Yeshua’s resurrection and fellowship with Him in suffering.

This is part of spiritual maturity.

Sometimes we will not understand what we are going through or why. There may be seasons when we feel weak, wounded, or spiritually dry. In those moments, we need the grace of God.

We can ask Father to bring us through the difficult season, cleanse our hearts from bitterness, release grace into our present situation, and perfect His power in our weakness.

The goal is to move beyond a spiritual journey that is primarily about what we feel or what we receive from God. As we mature, we increasingly recognize that our lives belong to Him. Yeshua is at work within us, shaping us according to His purposes.

Even through rejection, suffering, and seasons when His presence feels distant, we can remain faithful. We can ask Father to transform us into the image of His Son and help us fulfill the purpose for which He created and called us.

Stay faithful through the trial. The Lord can use even the difficult places to draw you into deeper fellowship with Yeshua and make you more completely His.

Application

• When God seems distant or others treat you unfairly, resist the temptation to pull away from Yeshua. Ask Him for grace to remain faithful.
• Invite Father to use difficult seasons to deepen your faith and conform you more fully to the image of His Son.

Prayer

Father God, sometimes I do not understand what I am going through or why. Bring me through the difficult seasons and release Your grace into my present situation. When You seem far away, help me walk by faith and remain faithful to Yeshua. When others wound or reject me, keep bitterness from taking root in my heart. Perfect Your power in my weakness and transform me into the image of Your Son. Help me move beyond living primarily for myself and become completely Yours, fulfilling the purpose for which You created and called me. Amen.