Session 4: Comfort in Trials

When was a time you experienced something hard or painful? How did that weigh you down?

Was there anyone who gave you encouragement, big or small, during that time? How did that help you?

This Week’s Focus

If we had our way, most of us would choose to never be unhappy. We would prefer to have lives that only include fun, happiness, and peace. Unfortunately, none of us will have a life like this on this side of heaven. Being alive means experiencing sadness, pain, and hardship along with all the good times. No matter how good our lives are, eventually there will be moments that wear us down and leave us discouraged in our faith. This is where other believers come in. An encouraging word from a fellow Christ-follower can lift our spirits when we’re down, and seeing the faithfulness of other Christians can help boost our faith when we are struggling. Today we will take a look at how encouragement from fellow believers can renew weary hearts.

1 Thessalonians 3:4–5 ESV

4 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. 5 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.

1. What do these verses tell us about Paul’s relationship with the church at Thessalonica? What can we learn from his example?

2. How did Paul care for the church at Thessalonica, even from afar and in the midst of his own struggles?

It should have been no surprise to the Thessalonians that Paul and his fellow apostles were experiencing affliction. He had warned them about such realities of the Christian life. Paul knew fully the costs of following Jesus. He knew that it would include great persecution—in part because he had once been a leader of that persecution. He knew that it could mean being separated from people he loved and losing people who had been dear to him. But even though he had warned them this would happen, he knew it would be hard for them to experience. It was certainly hard for him! When he was indeed torn from them, he still wanted to comfort them in the midst of it.None of us who follow Jesus have been promised a life without pain, affliction, or opposition. Quite the opposite, in fact—Jesus was very explicit about the costs of following after Him (Matt. 16:24). But that doesn’t mean that we have to experience it alone. In our suffering and affliction, we have the opportunity to be and experience the body of Christ in a way that uplifts and renews us.

HISTORY | What was Paul’s experience of suffering? How did he endure?

You don’t have to get very far into Paul’s letters to realize how much he suffered in his lifetime. This letter to the Thessalonians was likely from earlier in his ministry, but he would continue to know affliction for the rest of his days. He would endure multiple imprisonments, beatings, torture, shipwrecks, and danger at every turn (2 Cor. 11:16-33), and he would eventually be martyred for his faith. He never allowed those experiences to make him prideful. But they meant that he knew better than anyone the value of community and the power of upholding a brother or sister in the faith when they’re weak. Only by God’s grace and the support of faithful colaborers could Paul endure.

Paul was experiencing the rejection and affliction that would come to be all too familiar in his life. Yet even his own suffering did not prevent him from shepherding his flock in Thessalonica. He was worried for them. He wanted to make sure they were continuing to be faithful and weren’t giving into temptation. Certainly the separation from them weighed heavy on him. His concern for their well-being was too much for him to bear, so he sent Timothy to check on them—to comfort and challenge them in their faith (1 Thess. 3:1-2)

BE VULNERABLE

Has there been a time that you struggled in your faith because you felt alone or weighed down? Consider sharing with your students about that experience. Even sharing about times when you have felt alone can encourage others who are feeling the same way.

1 Thessalonians 3:6–10 ESV

6 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— 7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

Timothy had gone to the Thessalonians and returned to report back to Paul (and presumably Silas). He brought back good news! The believers in Thessalonica had been faithful and full of love. They too had longed to see the apostles again

3. How did the good report affect Paul and his companions?

4. How can the faith of others affect our own faith?

Undoubtedly, Paul, Silas, and Timothy had been burdened in the midst of their affliction. Had their ministry been in vain? Had their suffering been for nothing? Had the believers they discipled in Thessalonica fallen back to their old ways? When Timothy reported back with the continued faithfulness of the believers there, Paul and the others couldn’t help but be renewed and encouraged. It was a little peek into the bigger picture—all of their suffering was worth it. It was a reminder to stand firm even in the midst of their affliction. When we see others continuing in faithfulness, it encourages us to be faithful. When we are doubting, we can be helped toward belief when we see others believe. When we struggle, we can endure when we see how others stand firm. Believers are not isolated—we are one body of Christ, which means when one area is weak, another area can be stronger. It didn’t matter that Paul had been their leader. It didn’t matter that he had taught them so much of what it meant to follow Jesus. At this juncture, it was Paul who needed their faith and their encouragement. Knowing they were standing firm in the Lord allowed Paul and the others to sigh a great breath of relief. While we cannot ride on the coattails of someone else’s faith or relationship with God, we can offer strength where others are weak. We can share the burdens of suffering, doubt, and grief.

5. What might have been lacking in their faith that needed to be completed (v. 10)?

We don’t know the specific situations that Paul might have had in mind when he prayed for what was lacking in their faith. After all, he had gone to great lengths to commend the Thessalonians’ faith. If we look ahead in the letter, we could take a few guesses at some of the areas in which they might have been struggling. Perhaps Paul had in mind their need for renewed hope in the resurrection (1 Thess. 4:13). Whatever it was, his prayer was that God would supply exactly what they needed.

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 ESV

11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 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.

6. What was Paul’s prayer for the believers in Thessalonica? What three things was he asking of the Lord?

7. How was prayer an important part of Paul’s ministry to the Thessalonians and other churches you may have read about?

THEOLOGY | Is prayer really that important?

Paul was constantly in prayer, both for his own circumstances and for his fellow believers. We see that demonstrated in 1 Thessalonians 3. He knew that the strength and working of God would be the only solution to any of the pain, challenges, or brokenness that he experienced and encountered, and this prompted him to keep praying. For many of us, however, we treat prayer as a last resort. When we have tried everything we can to fix something, then we finally ask the Lord to do something. But the heart of prayer is not necessarily God changing our circumstances, but Him changing us. That’s what happens when we spend time in His presence. God always hears us (1 John 5:14) and sometimes He answers in the way we would choose. But He always gives us what we need. When we cultivate a life of prayer, we are cultivating intimacy with Jesus.

Chapter 3 concludes with a prayer for the Thessalonians that closes out the first half of the letter. Up to this point, Paul has been looking back, reflecting on what had already happened and how the believers had been faithful. In the next chapter, he will turn to look forward, giving them more specific ethical instructions. Of course, his immediate prayer was that God would clear the path for him to return to the Thessalonians (v. 11). As he had made clear, he truly wanted to be able to be together again. Paul also prayed for their increased love for one another (v. 12). They had experienced the love of God firsthand, and it would have to be the compelling force in everything they said and did (2 Cor. 5:14). Only the love of Jesus would hold them together against all the things that would threaten to tear them down and tear them apart.

Lastly, Paul prayed for God to make their hearts blameless and holy in preparation for Christ’s return (v. 13). The word translated here as “blameless” means to establish or make steady. As Paul was looking forward to Christ’s return, he wanted God to steady their hearts and make them steadfast in holiness. In other words, he wanted them to live like Jesus was coming back soon.

8. What might it look like for us to live like we really believe Jesus is coming again?