In her book God Uses Cracked Pots, Patsy Clairmont describes the day she sent her 7-year old son, Jason, to school. A little while later there was a knock on the door. Patsy opened the door and it was Jason. She said, “Jason, what are you doing here?”
He replied, “I’ve quit school!”
She asked, “Why have you quit school?”
He said, “It was too long, it was too hard, and it was too boring.”
Patsy responded, “Jason, you have just described life, get back on the bus!”
Life is often long, hard, and boring, but that is no reason to quit. In fact, the Bible tells us, “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).
Testing and trials are a normal part of life, so how do you stand strong in the midst of those trials? How do you remain steadfast in times of affliction? How do you persevere in the face of persecution?
That was Paul’s concern for the Thessalonian believers. Just a couple of weeks after they became believers, an angry mob went on the rampage and chased Paul out of town. Then, as he gets down the road to Athens, he begins to wonder about the new believers he left behind in Thessalonica. Is their faith still strong despite the persecution? Are they holding up under the pressure? Or have they succumbed to the affliction and given up their faith? If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 3, 1 Thessalonians 3, where Paul expresses his concern and talks about how to stand strong in times of trial.
1 Thessalonians 3:1-4 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. (ESV)
Paul reminds the new believers in Thessalonica that affliction is inevitable. Even so, he sends Timothy to encourage them.
Now, for Paul, it was like losing a loved one to death. In verse 1, the world “left behind” means “bereaved.” Paul may have expected the mob to kill Timothy in Thessalonica. At the very least, Paul couldn’t bear to be without him. And yet he sends Timothy back.
Why? It’s because he knows that new believers need an older believer to help them along the way. In fact, no believer can go very long without another believer to encourage them. So in the midst of your affliction...
DEPEND ON ONE ANOTHER.
Rely on other believers to support you along the way. Lean on other Christians to keep you from falling.
Even though the Sequoia trees of California tower as much as 300 feet in the air, they have unusually shallow root systems. Instead of going deep, their roots reach out in all directions to capture the greatest amount of surface moisture. That’s why you seldom see a redwood standing alone. They grow in clusters, because high winds would quickly uproot them if they stood alone. As it is, their intertwining roots provide support for each other against the storms.
In the same way, God did not design believers to stand alone. He designed them to provide support for each other against the storms. So when the winds of adversity come, depend on one another. Go to your brothers and sisters for support.
Jonathan Lunde, an instructor at Trinity College in Deerfield, Illinois, talks about one of Trinity’s graduates assisting him one semester. She had graduated from the biblical studies program and had gone on to graduate school. However, she decided to take a year off from graduate school to reflect on where she was and where she was going. She was wrestling deeply with issues of faith, and for a time Dr. Lunde was not certain her evangelical faith would survive.
However, that semester, as they sat in his office discussing her journey, he was glad to see the gentle work of God’s Spirit bringing her to a much more stable place. In one of those meetings, he asked her what it was that had been most helpful in bringing her through to that place.
Her answer surprised him. It was not some profound insight that she had been given along the way; it was not some new answer that had quieted the ranting of her heart. Rather, she said, “It was people.”
Dr. Lunde asked her what she meant by that, and she explained that what helped her the most was being able to look at people whose intellectual lives were far in advance of hers, who had wrestled deeply with the same issues with which she was wrestling, but who were still people of vital, Christian faith. (Jonathan Lunde, The Means of Leaving the Shire Mentality Behind, in a lecture given to Trinity alumni in 2002; www.PreachingToday.com)
If you’re wrestling with your faith these days, don’t try to come up with answers on your own. Instead, look around and find others who have been where you are, and seek strength from them. In the midst of your affliction, depend on one another!
Painter Benjamin West talks about how he loved to paint as a youngster. When his mother left, he would pull out the oils and try to paint. One day he pulled out all the paints and made quite a mess. He hoped to get it all cleaned up before his mother came back, but she came back sooner than expected and discovered the mess. West said what she did next completely surprised him. She picked up his painting and said, “My, what a beautiful painting of your sister.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked away. With that kiss, West says, “I became a painter.” (Rod Cooper, “The Kiss of Encouragement,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 141; www.PreachingToday.com)
Every day, we who know Christ try to paint the picture of Jesus in our lives through what we say and do, but we make messes. The last thing we need is for someone to come along and say, “What a mess!” What we need is the kiss of encouragement.
Oh, my dear friends, no matter how great the mess, find the kiss of encouragement right here among God’s people. We will not condemn you. Instead, we will carry you along until you can stand again on your own two feet. If you want to stand strong in the midst of your affliction, 1st, depend on one another. Then 2nd...
DEPEND ON THE LORD.
Rely on God to support you along the way. Lean heavily on Jesus to keep you from falling.
1 Thessalonians 3:5-10 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? (ESV)
Paul feared that the Thessalonian believers had lost their faith. But when Timothy assured Paul that their faith was strong, Paul was grateful, and he asked God for the opportunity to strengthen their faith even more.
Faith is important, because faith keeps you strong in the face of adversity. 1 John 5 says, “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5). So whatever you do, don’t lose your faith! Don’t stop trusting God in the middle of all your pain.
Trust God to save you from your sin. Jesus died on a cross to pay the penalty for your sin, then rose again, so you could live forever with Him in heaven. All you need to do is trust Him with your life. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). So stop trying to save yourself and start trusting God to save you.
Then trust God to sustain you, as well, in your times of suffering. Even as you depended on God to deliver you from sin; depend on God to keep you strong in Him.
In Pray! magazine, Jennifer Kennedy Dean tells the story of a woman she calls Mary, who came to her for prayer. Mary was desperate and afraid. Her son had been arrested for selling drugs following years of drug abuse. He made many anguished attempts to overcome his addiction, and there were glimpses of hope that turned out to be false. Mary said she had prayed every way she knew how, but God had never answered her prayers.
Mary had come to Jennifer, because she was looking for someone who could “get results” when she prayed. Mary was looking for someone who could get God to behave the way she wanted him to, and she had a long list of things she wanted God to do.
Jennifer responded by asking Mary, “What is it that you really desire for your son?” When Mary went back to her list and began to read off her requests, Jennifer interrupted her. “No. Those are the things that you have determined will accomplish what you want for your son. What is the heart of your desire?”
Mary responded, “I want my son to know Jesus Christ and find peace in his life.”
“Then that's what we'll ask for,” Jennifer told her, but things didn't go well. Mary's son continued to be bitter and suffered excruciating withdrawal. In her panic, Mary would say, “God isn't answering. Why isn't He doing anything?”
Jennifer reminded Mary her of what they were praying for. “Don't assume He isn't answering,” Jennifer said. “Look for the path God’s yes is taking.”
Eventually, Mary's son was sentenced to prison, where a fellow inmate led him to Christ and got him involved in a prison Bible study. Gradually, Mary’s son became a different man. When he was paroled, he finished a drug rehabilitation program and continued to follow the Lord. At the time Jennifer told the story, he had been sober and working for just over two years.
Jennifer says, “During all of it, what appeared to be backward was really forward. What appeared to be down was really up. What appeared to be dark was really light.” (Jennifer Kennedy Dean, “Optical Illusions,” Pray! Issue 31, 2002, pp.14-15; www. PreachingToday.com)
God is always up to something good even when circumstances seem otherwise. So trust Him even in your pain.
Gary Richmond stood next to Jack Badal, a zoo keeper, when an Angola giraffe was about to give birth. The giraffe was standing up, and the calf's front hooves and head were already visible. “When is she going to lie down?” Gary asked Jack.
“She won't,” Jack answered.
“But her hindquarters are nearly ten feet off the ground!” Gary said. “Isn't anyone going to catch the calf?”
“Try catching it if you want,” Jack responded, “but its mother has enough strength in her hind legs to kick your head off.” Soon the calf hurled forth, landing on his back. His mother waited for about a minute, then kicked her baby, sending it sprawling head over hooves.
“Why'd she do that?” Gary asked.
“She wants it to get up,” Jack responded. Whenever the baby ceased struggling to rise, the mother prodded it with a hearty kick. Finally, the calf stood—wobbly, but upright. The mother kicked it off its feet again! “She wants it to remember how it got up,” Jack offered. “In the wild, if it didn't quickly follow the herd, predators would pick it off.” (Gary Richmond, “It's a Jungle Out There,” Men of Integrity, 12-15-2004; www.PreachingToday.com)
Sometimes, it seems like God is kicking you for no reason, but that’s never the case. Rather, God is using the trial make you strong to stand against any predator, including the devil himself. So trust Him in the trial. Trust Him to save you and to sustain you. If you want to stand strong in the midst of your affliction, 1st, depend on one another; 2nd, depend on the Lord; and 3rd...
DEMONSTRATE LOVE FOR OTHERS.
Show compassion to those in need. Display care for others who are suffering even as you are. Paul prays...
1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. (ESV)
Paul wants God to increase their love, so He may establish their hearts. Literally, so He may fix their hearts, or make their hearts firm. You see, it is not only faith that makes you strong; love makes you strong, as well.
Years ago, Eddie got tired of living and jumped from a bridge into a raging river. Jim, a total stranger, saw Eddie being swept downstream and jumped into the water to save him. Jim floundered in the strong current; and Eddie, who was a good swimmer, knew that without his help Jim would drown. So with all his strength, Eddie swam over to the man and rescued him. As a result, Eddie found new hope and meaning to life in saving the stranger, who had attempted to save him. (T. Huffman Harris, Open the Door Wide to Happy Living)
You too can find new hope and meaning to life as you reach out to others in need. So quit your pity party. Like the old telephone commercial says, “Reach out and touch someone,” and find that Someone touches you, as well.
Lee Eclov, a recently retired pastor, talks about the time an F3-magnitude tornado swept through Beaver County, Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburg, where he pastored a small church at the time. It was around 7 p.m. on the evening of Friday, May 31, 1985. He was at church for a meeting when they got word of the storm. When the meeting came to an end, everyone headed to the home of some friends just as they had planned on doing.
Lee’s friend was a surgeon, and when they arrived at his home, one of his colleagues was already at the door. All the physicians in the area were being summoned to the medical center. Lee’s surgeon friend, Roy, ran to his car and left immediately. The rest of them stood there wondering what they could do.
Lee thought, “I'm a pastor. Maybe I should go to the Medical Center, too,”. But he did not want to go. Lee says, “I was frightened,” and he reasoned, “I'd probably be in the way. What could I possibly do? They've already got people lined up for these things.”
You see, pastors are people too with very real fears and the ability to make all kinds of excuses not to help. Lee says, “Finally, with God's sharp finger in the middle of my back, I reluctantly drove to the hospital.”
The devastation was worse than anybody imagined. Phone lines were down. Traffic was at a standstill. Kids were driving around, and their parents had no idea where they were. It turned out that the hospital was the only place where worried people could think to go. Many had been injured and three people were dead. The lady in charge of the emergency room—a woman from Lee’s church—would call out from time to time: “Is there anyone from the Jack Smith family here?” Otherwise, folks sat and worried.
Having no better idea of what to do, Lee just started walking up to clusters of people. He would say, “I'm a pastor, and I wonder if you'd like me to pray for you and your family.”
“Yes, please,” they said. “That would be great.”
No one asked Lee what church he served, and no one—not one person—even hesitated to accept his prayers. Lee says, “I think I was the only one at the hospital that evening praying for people.”
Later that night, it hit him that he is an agent of Christ’s compassion in this world. That means going where people are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” That’s what Christians do, not just pastors. When others retreat from heartache and sorrow, Christians step in because they walk with Jesus. (Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois; www.PreachingToday.com)
When the storms of life come, walk with Jesus and reach out with love to others. Don’t wallow in self-pity. Instead, work with pity for others who are suffering just like you.
If you want to stand strong in the midst of your affliction, depend on one another; depend on the Lord; and demonstrate love for others.
In his book, When You Can’t Come Back, Dave Dravecky says, “In America, Christians pray for the burden of suffering to be lifted from their backs. In the rest of the world, Christians pray for stronger backs so they can bear their suffering. It's why we look away from the bag lady on the street and to the displays in store windows. Why we prefer going to the movies instead of to hospitals and nursing homes.” (Dave Dravecky, When You Can't Come Back; www.PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, don’t ask God to remove the suffering from your back; ask God for a stronger back to bear your suffering for His glory until Jesus comes.
