How are you doing at dealing with life’s pressures and problems? As it turns out, it is a mark of maturity to respond with grace, tact, patience and kindness when facing problems or persecution. And today we are going to be taking a deep dive into the purpose of problems and persecution. Why does God allow trials and tribulations and temptation into our lives anyway?
First: trials and difficulties bring personal growth.
Second: Persecution and tribulation impact a watching world.
Our Strength comes from God’s Grace 1-2
Suffering is for the purpose of mutual encouragement.
The story of Thessalonica is one of struggle and persecution. Acts 17:1-9
The Thessalonians struggled with outbreaks of hostility. 1 Thess 2:14
We Grow Together – this message is to the church.
When we suffer together, we grow together.
When difficult times come we need each other.
Grace and Peace enable us to suffer well.
We are better together than we are alone
Our Goal is to Grow 3
Suffering opens the door for inspiration.
Your personal growth may inspire others.
Paul saw that their faith and love was growing exceedingly.
Whether you are aware of it or not, people are watching you.
People are interested in how you respond when bad things happen.
When your faith exceeds their expectations, they are blessed!
Suffering inspires others; if you can make it so, can they.
When others are inspired, you become inspired!
Their appreciation can move you to greater achievements.
We are praying that your faith will grow exceedingly.
Faith comes from hearing God’s Word. Romans 10:17
The testing and trying of your faith produces growth. James 1:3
We are praying that your love would abound towards one another.
Their love had grown beyond normal expectations.
Tragedy makes us realize how much we treasure one another.
The love of God is spread abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit.
When people see your genuine faith in hardship, it inspires them.
Our Ambition is Endurance 4
Suffering motivates us to hang in there during the tough times.
Sometimes you need a cheer leader.
People are talking about you! Paul was boasting.
Our trials motivate others to hang in there and stick with it.
You need faith that will give you staying power.
This is the purpose of pain. Persecution and problems, trials and tribulations have a dual purpose: First to bring about personal growth to ourselves and second make us an example to others. People are watching you. Suffer well. People are talking about you. Live in such a way that they brag!
How are you doing at dealing with life’s pressures and problems? Are you counting it all joy when you fall into various trials and tribulations? Do you consider yourself blessed when others persecute you or insult you? Do you have the peace of God that passes all understanding when your world descends into chaos? Do you return good to others when they do evil to you?
And here’s a few other questions? For those of you who are aging, are you aging gracefully? To those of you who are sick, are you a good patient or crabby one? Or perhaps you’re just an impatient or unkind person when things don’t go your way. When the finances are low and the bills are high, how’s your anxiety level?
As it turns out, it is a mark of maturity to respond with grace, tact, patience and kindness when facing problems or persecution. And that is our message today. And in fact, we are going to be taking a deep dive into the purpose of problems and persecution. Why does God allow trials and tribulations and temptation into our lives anyway?
Just so you know there is a purpose to your problems! There is a method to God’s madness! There is a divine plan to the seemingly random troubles you face. Things might not add up right now, but do not lose heart. Some of the events in life aren’t exactly to our liking, even so, do not lose hope, God is standing in the shadows directing everything for the good of those who love Him.
What is the purpose of my problems? I am going to share two of them today; First: trials and difficulties bring personal growth. There is no gain without pain. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. No guts no glory. No agony, no ecstasy. The caterpillar cannot become a beautiful butterfly without the struggle of metamorphosis. The butterfly is only beautiful because the caterpillar was brave.
Second: Persecution and tribulation impact a watching world. Yes people are watching your journey. And how you respond can impress them or distress them. You might just be an inspiration to people you don’t even know, because people are watching you.
Well let’s get to it. Our first look at purpose is found in verses 1-2.
Our Strength comes from God’s Grace
This is the purpose of mutual encouragement.
Verse one and two are the introduction to the book of Second Thessalonians. ““Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians.”
Paul introduces himself and his team as the writers of this book. Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles. Silvanus, or Silus and Timothy are his faithful team members. They are so close a team that this letter is from the three of them.
They are writing to the Thessalonians. Thessalonica, now known as Thessaloniki, is a seaport town in northern Greece. It is the capitol of Macedonia. It was named after Thessalonike, the sister of Alexander the Great. Her name means victory over Thessalonians, because her birth coincided with his victory. It was a free Roman city and an important hub of trade. It soon became one of the early important centers of Christianity.[i]
The story of Thessalonica is one of struggle and persecution. When Paul first came to the region in Acts 17, he preached in the Jewish Synagogue for three weeks. That’s all the time he had in the city. Some of the Jews were persuaded; and a great multitude of the Greeks, and quite a few of the leading women.
But the Jews who were not persuaded, became envious, set the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, where they thought Paul was staying. When they did not find him, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city with these words. So then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. Acts 17:1-9
From that time on, the church in Thessalonica struggled with outbreaks of hostility. 1 Thessalonians 2:14, notes, “For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews.”
So what I want to say about this, is that this message is to the church. There were a number of Jews, a multitude of Greeks and many leading women in the church. Paul was writing to the body of Christ in that city. He said that they were “in God our Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Christ loves the church. His heart breaks over the mistreatment of his people. And the church was under attack. If you were a Christian, you faced hostility. The important thing to know here is that we suffer together, and we grow together. When difficult times come we need each other.
Notice that the Grace and Peace from God was aimed at the suffering church. We are best at comfort when we come together as a group. Somehow, some way, God’s Grace and Peace are ministered to the body when we comfort one another.
Friday night, I went to a candle light vigil for the Glide teacher who tragically lost her life in an auto accident in the Umpqua River. Why did people get together? We are better together than we are alone. There is something mystical and spiritual about the body coming together to comfort one another. It says we care! And when the church gets together, God dispenses his grace and peace to us as our source of strength to face the difficulties of life.
So the first purpose of suffering is that it brings us together for mutual encouragement. The second purpose is that Suffering opens the door for inspiration!
Our Goal is to Grow 3
The Purpose of Problems is to produce personal growth, but it is also something that is meant to bring public grace.
“We are bound to thank God always for you brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other.” 3
Do you realize that your personal growth may inspire others and in so doing spur yourself on to greater victories? That’s what’s happening here. Paul saw that their faith was growing exceedingly, and that their love was abounding toward one another, in the midst of persecution! And he was like a proud father! Their personal growth inspired him! And he was thankful!
Whether you are aware of it or not, people are watching you. And they are especially interested in how you respond when bad things happen. You can either impress them or distress them. When your faith exceeds their expectations, they notice. They are amazed. When your love surpasses the normal bounds of experience, they notice, they are blessed!
One of the goals of suffering is to inspire others; if you can make it so, can they.
And there is some kind of synergy going on here. Because when they are inspired, you become even more inspired! Their appreciation of your achievements can move you to greater achievements.
Now here is what we are looking for in sufferings. #1. We are praying that your faith will grow exceedingly. Now how can you nature your faith to grow? Romans 10:17, says that Faith comes from sitting under the hearing of God’s Word. Listening and learning God’s Word makes your faith grow. James 1:3 says that the testing and trying of your faith produces patience and growth.
#2. The second thing we are looking for in sufferings is that your love would abound towards one another. Abound is another word which indicates that their love had grown beyond normal expectations. How can love grow in loss and sorrow? Well, tragedy certainly make us realize how much we treasure on another. We never know just how precious people are until they are gone! Suffering can do the same thing. When the love of God is spread abroad in your heart by the holy spirit, your love will grow abundantly.
And when people see your genuine faith in hardship, and your tender and overflowing love in sorrow, it inspires them to be thankful for what they have, grateful for their many blessings and moves them to appreciate all the more the gifts God has given them. It moves them to greater faith and love.
So the first purpose of suffering is that it brings us together for mutual encouragement. The second purpose is that Suffering opens the door for inspiration! And the third is that suffering motivates us to hang in there during the touch times.
Our Ambition is Endurance 4
In order to deal with the many problems of life, you need more than inspiration, you need endurance, and sometimes you need a cheer leader.
“We ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure.” 4
I work out 5 days a week. Some days I struggle with motivation. My son, Shaphen never lets me off the hook. He’s always there to push me harder. And that motivates me. I just can’t drop out, because I know he’s going to be there, and I can’t let him down.
And just like the last verse, when we noticed that people are watching, in this verse people are talking! “we ourselves boast.” When they see that you have patience in persecution, people will talk. Man you ought to see how that guy held up when the world came crashing down on his head! It was amazing. I want to be like that! I hope that when my time comes, I can deal with it half as well as they did!
People will talk and people will boast. And that is my habit. When I see people living exceptional lives during trying times, I spend a little time boasting about them and telling others how amazing they are! Don’t you!
Our trials motivate others, and they in turn motivate us to hang in there and stick with it. After all you can’t quit life, so you better make the most of it. What do you need motivation for? You need patience and endurance in persecution. You need faith that will give you staying power.
When we deal with our Problems and persecutions in a godly way, they inspire public praise. And that motivates others to imitate our faith.
This is the purpose of pain. This is the significance of suffering. This is the truth of tribulation. This brings meaning to madness. I know this may seem trite, but listen carefully: Persecution and problems, trials and tribulations have a dual purpose: First to bring about personal growth to ourselves and second make us an example to others.
People are watching you. Suffer well. People are talking about you. Live in such a way that they brag! Listen carefully to Philippians 1:29
“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” It is an honor to suffer for Jesus. Suffer well.
Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?.”
Romans 8:35-39, “What shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Going through trials and tribulations can either strengthen your faith or tear it down. Have you ever heard the story of the rose and the path. One day the path smelled an incredible aroma, and said, “what is that beautiful smell?” The rose was bleeding and weeping, but replied, “It is I. I have fallen to the path and someone has stepped on me and crushed me.” The path replied. That indeed is strange. I have been stepped on and crushed many times, and it only makes me harder!” You can be like the rose and let the aroma of Christ flow through you, or like the path and grow harder.
[i] https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/thessalonica/