As we begin this morning I want us to hear verse 3 of our text from various translations:

• "That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto" (KJV)
• "So that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them" (NIV)
• "So that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. (NASV)
• "Not that the troubles should come as any surprise to you. You've always known that we're in for this kind of thing. It's part of our calling." (The Message)
• "and to keep you from becoming disturbed by the troubles you were going through. But, of course, you know that such troubles are going to happen to us Christians. (NLT)

Is the message clear? It’s a hard word, isn’t it? You see to be human, first of all is to be in trouble. Job wrote, "Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward." Suffering is a characteristic of the personal. Animals and the material earth can be hurt but they do not suffer. Persons, alone in God’s creation, suffer. For suffering is pain plus: physical or emotional pain plus that our own selves are threatened. A Christian is a person who decides to face and live through suffering. If we do not make that decision, we are threatened on every side. Eugene Peterson writes in A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, "A man or a woman of faith who fails to acknowledge and deal with suffering becomes, at last, a person without a reason for living."

The past two weeks have been days in which I walked with several of our church families through the dark path of suffering and grief. Seven families experienced the excruciating pain of the death of someone they loved. The range of loss was difficult to comprehend from a still-born infant whose loss is a mystery to a 96 year old saint whose death was an answer to the call of heaven. The suffering these have known has created questions that have no easy answers. Some we can see as part of the cycle of being human as our bodies age and wear out. Others create questions as to the justice or fairness of what has happened. Answers regardless of their rational explanation will never restore the one who is gone or relieve the true pain. Death has left in its wake parents, spouses, children, grandchildren, siblings all clinging to the promises of God’s strength and grace in a time of suffering.

Yet Paul writes the Thessalonian Christians that troubles are simply going to happen to Christians. They are our destiny, our calling, an appointment we can’t avoid. The events of the past two weeks do not even take in the other countless struggles of those who make up this body of Christ. Rick Warren says, "Life is a series of problems. Every time you solve one, another is waiting to take its place." (The Purpose Driven Life, p.193) Good news, huh? If troubles are our just part of the cost of being a believer in Jesus Christ then what are we to do in response to them? Honestly the questions come as to what value it is to believe if this is what it means to be a person of faith. Why not just give in to the cynicism and anger that rages in us? Yet we can’t do that because God won’t let us go. How can we stand firm in our troubles? How can we stay faithful to God when it feels like we are losing what once we thought held life together?

I want us to start by looking at the context of this passage from I Thessalonians 3:1-13. Remember that Paul is writing from the Greek city of Corinth some months after establishing the church in Thessalonica. He is afraid that the difficulties and persecution that they have faced may have caused them to abandon the faith. While he has not been able to go back to the city himself he has sent Timothy to check on them. After weeks of anxious waiting Timothy has returned with the news that they were not only surviving but being an example to everyone as to how believers face and live through troubles. So after hearing from Timothy the good news of their faithful standing he writes saying that he is elated that their troubles strengthened them and did not defeat them.

The word that Paul uses in verse 3 for "troubles" comes from a word that means, "to press" or "squeeze". It is translated in a variety of ways: troubles, afflictions and trials. None of them are pleasant. F. F. Bruce writes, "Tribulation is a term applicable to the various kinds of hardships Christians have to endure because of their faith and witness." There is a belief that the New Testament Christians had and New Testament writers believed that we just don’t want to accept today. It’s this: troubles and afflictions are the normal lot of Christians! It is not a question of if we will face these things; it is a question of how we will respond to them. I want us to see today that like the Thessalonians our troubles need not defeat us but can serve to strengthen us! I want us to discover how we can stand firm in troubles.

The truth is though that our troubles do not always strengthen us. What can happen to us when we encounter troubles as Christians (I Thess. 3: 1-5)? One thing that can happen is we can lose the intensity of our energy for Christ. (v. 3) That’s what Paul was worried about in their case. He is afraid that they have been "disturbed" by what has happened to them. The word means, "to be shaken mentally." He was afraid that they would know that if Christianity meant pain then they were going to give up. He was afraid that their morale would fall and result in defeat. Hasn’t this ever happened to you? Haven’t your troubles caused you to lose the intensity of your zeal for Christ? Of course it has. When things were going well it was like nothing could stop you but now it is as if you have no energy for the things that once excited you. It shows us the importance of our mental attitude or perspective in any trouble or conflict. Without the right attitude or perspective we are going to have a hard time standing firm in our troubles.

Another thing that can happen to us is that we can allow our troubles to weaken our faith. (v. 5a) That is why Paul sent Timothy to "find out whether your faith was still strong". Here he is talking about faith in the sense of hope, expectation or trust in God. Paul knew that without faith they wouldn’t make it! Our faith, trust in, reliance upon God is like the pulse beat in our body. Our pulse shows the strength or weakness of our heart muscle—literally of our life! If something is wrong in the heart, it’s going to be shown in the pulse! Just as stress on our body and mind can cause our pulse to be too fast or too low, so our trouble can cause our faith to lose its stamina and weaken our effectiveness. Our troubles can weaken our faith and can cause us to begin to lose heart.

There is a final challenge to Christians when troubles come and that is that we may grow so demoralized, so weak in our faith, we may fail in our stand against temptation. (v. 5b) Paul has been worried that Satan, the tempter, my have seized upon their weakness and caused them to fail morally thereby destroying their witness and faith. He said, "I was afraid that the Tempter had gotten the best of you and that all our work had been useless." I have known people, just as you have, who have been so battered by trouble that the things that they once resisted suddenly became part of their lifestyle. They wondered, "Why bother? Things are so bad, why bother? I have stood morally all of my life but for what? I might as well do as others because my obedience has obviously not mattered to God."

When we have trouble, we can become so discouraged we lose the vitality and energy of our faith. We can then become unfaithful and breakdown morally. Just because troubles are part of what it means to be Christian is no guarantee that they will immediately be tools to strengthen us. You don’t have to look far to see someone who once was alive to Christ and their faith but then "troubles" came and they allowed them to turn them away from what they once professed as real and true. The journey of faith is filled with lives whose responses to trouble have been just these!

If there is a possibility of our troubles demoralizing our faith what should happen to us when we encounter troubles as a Christian? (I Thess. 3:6-8) Essentially they would be the same things that Paul found that happened to the Thessalonians. What were those things?

Well, when we encounter troubles our faith should grow stronger (v. 6a). When Paul found out just how well these believers had done in their troubles he is so excited that he uses the word "good news". Now we might not think much about that term but what is significant is that it is the same word that he uses for the gospel and it is the only time in all of Paul’s writings that he uses this word for anything other than the gospel itself. It is as if he is so excited about their standing in their troubles that he can’t think of another word to express his joy! The news that these believers had endured their trials was as good to him as the news of Christ’s salvation for all people. That just gives us a clue as to how deeply Paul felt at what was happening in their lives.

The New Testament affirms that troubles have the intent to make us grow stronger as a believer. Romans 5:3-4 says, "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation." James 1:2-3 says, "Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. I know those are easy words to read but they are not easy to say, especially when you look someone in the eye or hear the tremble in their voice when they are enduring their trouble. Yet God’s word tells us that what we are enduring is there to aid us to grow more in our faith. Do not hear me say that the cause of the tragic circumstance you have encountered is so that you can mature as a Christian. No, what the Scripture is saying is that how we respond to the trouble has the capability to make us stronger as a believer! You know people for whom this is true and God wants it to be true for you. Today, this can be your testimony. He wants to give you the strength to let your faith grow stronger.

Not only should our faith grow stronger when we encounter troubles but our love should grow deeper. (v.6a) Paul is not only excited about the strength of their faith but he is also thrilled at the depth of their love. Their love was a real testimony to others. In fact he will tell them in I Thess. 4:9-10, "I don't need to write to you about the Christian love that should be shown among God's people. For God himself has taught you to love one another. Indeed, your love is already strong toward all the Christians in all of Macedonia." Their endurance in troubles resulted in an overflowing affection toward Paul and everyone else!

Can you imagine this being true? Doesn’t it seem absurd that when evil things happen in our lives that we should expect that love would be born out of the sorrow? Yet the reality is that it does happen. It would seem that we would have every right to hate and become bitter and resentful but love instead finds a place to root itself in our pain. Then before we can understand it there is the real emotion of love that begins to wrap itself around our pain and refuses to let it advance and spread like a cancer in our soul. An emotion that has every reason to die is suddenly alive with such life that you can’t explain it and it is all a result of the troubles of your life. When we see our troubles as useful to our lives they will cement your life together and enter new horizons of love you’ve never known before!

Faith growing stronger while love is growing deeper but there is one more possibility when we face troubles and that is that our convictions should grow firmer (v. 8). Timothy reported back that their faith had not wavered at all but was firm and unmoved! Paul said, "It gives us new life, knowing you remain strong in the Lord." These believers had every reason to walk away from their commitment to Christ. Life is hard enough without the added burden of the persecution they were enduring. Yet they were staying firm in their convictions and not abandoning Christ. This gave Paul new life and the confidence that the work he had done among them wasn’t wasted.

My friends, our faith is really anemic until it has been tested! Warren says, "You’ll never know that God is all you need until God is all you’ve got." (Ibid, p.194) Why? Because we have so many shallow, childish ideas about God that it is not until we come face to face with a crisis we find out what is really important! Convictions are the things that hold your life together. It is something that holds you rather than you holding it. When we go through the fire we become convicted about things that truly, truly matter! Faith growing stronger…love growing deeper…convictions growing firmer all our ours as we stand firm in our troubles.

What is amazing is that when we stand firm in our troubles others are encouraged to stand firm as well. (I Thess. 3: 7-10) Hear again what Paul said, "So we have been greatly comforted, dear brothers and sisters, in all of our own crushing troubles and suffering, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life, knowing you remain strong in the Lord. How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy in the presence of God. Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill up anything that may still be missing in your faith.

Paul describes just how encouraged, thankful and faithful he had been himself because of how strong they had been. Those same things can happen to others as we continue to be strong in our troubles. We cause others to be encouraged (v. 7), to have a fresh source of spiritual life for which they are thankful and joyful (v. 9), and others are strengthened to be faithful (v. 10). All because we dare to trust God through our troubles and remain firm in our faith.

This past May Bernice Mize and her daughter Yvonne Bailey were treated to a day at a spa as a gift for Mother’s Day. Bernice is 68 and is from Little Rock and an active member of Immanuel Baptist Church. Her daughter Yvonne is 47 and has lived with her husband Hatch and four boys ages 13-21 in Waco. A reporter for a local paper interviewed them while they enjoyed their day.. What made the gift so special is that both mother and daughter were battling cancer and were both in hospice care. The day at the spa was a gift by a group called the Arkansas Hospice Angels founded by Kim Clatworthy.

What has been inspiring about this mother and daughter is they still have a zest for life that would put most people to shame. They attribute it to the support they have gotten from their family and friends and, most importantly, the relationship they have with God. "I don’t know how anyone could ever go through this without the Lord," Bernice said. "That’s where my strength comes from." Yvonne agreed, saying that when her cancer came back in February last year, the first thing she did was drop to her knees and ask God to use her situation for his glory. Since then she has seen him do that in incredible ways. Thousands upon thousands have been encouraged in their faith and several have put their trust in Christ.

That’s not to say everything has been easy. Just because Yvonne has put her trust in Jesus doesn’t mean her illness has been a cakewalk. There have been plenty of physical trials. But the most difficult thing has been the emotional struggles, like leaving her husband her boys behind. Yvonne said, though, that she has never wrestled with the question of whether she made a difference in the world; all she has to do is look at her sons and she knows what her lasting impact is.

Yvonne said some friends have asked if she ever gets mad at God. She understands what they mean, she said, but she just can’t identify with that train of thought. "I’ve never once asked, ‘Why me?’" she said. "Why not me?…I have a very blessed life. I’ve made it 47 years with an incredible life." Bernice said that God knew before both she and Yvonne were born that they would go through cancer, she said. Kim Clatworthy said, "I want to be like them when I die. I’ve seen lots of people die, but I’ve never seen anyone do it with quite the grace or dignity they have."

At the time this story was written Yvonne said she was joyfully anticipating being in heaven with Jesus and with all those who are there waiting on her. On June 5th that anticipation became reality, as Yvonne was welcomed into heaven. (Adapted from Day of Grace, Roy Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald)

Dallas Willard says, "For those who love God, there is nothing that can happen in our lives that God cannot redeem." I have seen that in your lives many, many times. It is a reminder that God uses our pain for a greater purpose, as we stand firm in our troubles. And when we do others will say, " It gives us new life, knowing you remain strong in the Lord."

Sunday, July 8, 2007 a.m.

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org