We all know the longer term can sometimes feel scary. There is a lot to fear on this world. But the Bible teaches that those that are in Jesus, followers of Christ, don’t have to live in fear of the longer term due to two things:
- One day Jesus will return and make all wrongs right.
- One day Jesus will return and make all things recent.
When you’re within the midst of trauma, tragedy, or major life transition, it will possibly be difficult to cling to those guarantees of Jesus’s return. But facing life’s difficulties by trusting the promise of God’s judgment and God’s recent creation, well, it’s the difference between a lifetime of freedom and a lifetime of fear.
In 2 Thessalonians, the apostle Paul wrote to a church afraid of the longer term. There had been some misconceptions and rumors going around, and so they were told that Jesus had already returned and left them. The Thessalonians were living in total fear because they thought Jesus had forgotten them, leaving them to be persecuted with none help.
We have all felt, at times, that God doesn’t see us or has forgotten us. If you’ve got experienced that, you realize a little bit of what the Thessalonians were scuffling with.
The rumors Jesus had already come and gone were just that- rumors. Paul wrote no less than two letters to this church to correct the misperception and remind them the return of Jesus should never encourage fear but bring hope and confidence.
As Paul wrote to encourage them, he noted two things in 2 Thessalonians 1:3-6. In their suffering:
- The church’s faith was growing increasingly more.
- The love they’d for one another was increasing.
Their faith and love were growing more abundant amid sorrow, devastation, loss, and fear. And in keeping with Paul, all of that is evidence that God is just and so they are worthy of entering the dominion of God.
It’s interesting that within the midst of horrific persecution and suffering, they weren’t doubting their faith or walking away from the church. They weren’t increasing in fear but fairly growing deeper in faith and love. In other words, they were not only surviving, they were thriving in sorrow—and someway that proved God’s justice.
What which means is there’s some connection between our response to suffering as followers of Jesus, which acts as evidence that God is sweet and fair.
So often, when faced with grief, pain, or stress, we panic as a substitute of getting on our knees to wish, worship, or dive deeper into our faith. Panic gives method to worry, fear, and wonder about where on the earth God is.
Fear can tempt us to go away our church community, dismantling our faith. It can squelch our desire to read the Bible and serve our neighbors. Scripture tells us it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, if after we remain faithful in our seasons of suffering, we grow in spiritual maturity. Our steadfastness in suffering ends in greater faith in God and deeper love for others.
What we must understand is that spiritual growth in suffering shouldn’t be a matter in fact. Walking through suffering, difficulty, pain, loss, or hardship won’t “mechanically” end in a deepening faith and a deepening love for the people around us. The “result” is each a present of grace from God and a selection that we make to contend for our faith in Jesus.
Decide, ‘I is not going to be moved. I’ll stay faithful to Jesus even when all the things in me wants to offer up on God – ‘that is the sort of steadfast endurance that ends in a deepening faith and love for others.
This is the invitation we have now as Christians and what it means to be a people of religion: it’s to say, ‘I’m hurting, I’m suffering, I’m afraid of the longer term, my spiritual wells are bone dry, God has disenchanted me. And yet I’ll carry on selecting faith and fidelity to King Jesus.’
The above mindset is how our steadfastness in suffering ends in greater faith in God and deeper love for others – because Jesus is steadfast, unchanging, and he is accessible to assist and strengthen us.
What does it mean to be steadfast? This is an old English word related to a sword’s power to sustain blows (without breaking), or being unshakeable, unfaltering, obstinate, and stubborn. It also describes the firmly fixed and unwavering power of a plant or tree to endure hard seasons of weather.
In fact, if you’ve got ever seen an image of a Mighty Sequoia tree, that’s a terrific example of steadfastness. The root system of a sequoia is a source of never-ending surprise. The roots extend out from the trunk in every direction for 100 feet or more, and so they are sometimes very near the surface of the bottom. The giant sequoia develops no everlasting taproot, but its roots are entangled with other sequoia roots- sometimes for miles and miles.
To be steadfast in suffering is to face arm in arm with fellow believers, borrow the religion of our community, refuse to stay isolated and alone, and decide to help carry one another in order that when the winds blow, the others are there to support and uphold the group. That’s how our faith and our love will increase in hardship. Our Sequoia-like steadfastness in suffering is a way we take part in God’s Kingdom.
Where will we start? By acknowledging our fears and frustrations to Jesus. Just be honest with God, saying,
“I’m afraid, Jesus…
God, I’m mad about this loss…
God, I’m apathetic. I don’t even feel afraid. I don’t even care… I used to care more, but I actually have lost my excitement for all times…
God, I’m heartbroken, heartbroken, heartbroken. God, I’m indignant.
God, after I take into consideration this aspect of my future, my kids, my marriage, my profession, my loneliness, my stress, – I’m scared…
Jesus, I would like to follow you for the primary time- I would like to start my life with you today…
Or, God, I don’t even consider these items…
When we start to truthfully acknowledge our fears and frustrations concerning the future, Jesus will meet us there, and that acknowledgment is an element of developing sequoia steadfastness in suffering.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/simpson33
