"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Even though this verse was not mentioned by Darrell in tonight’s message, it encompasses the two main themes under tonight’s question, “What can we be sure of?” The answer: the surety of trials and the power of encouragement. The first part of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 states the fact that being a Christian does not mean that life is going to be full of rainbows and unicorns. We are going to have hardships but God never fails in bringing us hope. God tells us that he will comfort us in the hard times. This in turn allows us to comfort and encourage others.
Darrell started off last night in Acts 17:10 and spoke of Paul’s time in Berea and Athens. He used these examples to demonstrate how Paul experienced a different kind of trial in these places than he had in others. Paul’s usual way of evangelizing to people did not work in Athens because there was a prominent amount of other idols that were being worshiped. Paul still had a calling to witness to these people. He figured out that by using the Athenians own philosophies he could find ways to preach about Jesus to them. Even though Paul was not expecting to be faced with this trial he was still able to glorify God through it.
Sometimes it is easier said than done to praise God even through the hard times. We have to realize though that we were destined for trials; we are promised hard times. “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” -1 Peter 4:12. And as Darrell stated, “We will suffer in his name at points.” “However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” 1 Peter 4:16
Darrell shared the verse 1 Peter 2:21 which states, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” Darrell spoke of how this verse tells us that we need to share our sufferings because in our sufferings others can find encouragement. Not solely because we are suffering but that we are reminded of Christ’s suffering for us.
Darrell continued to James 1:2-3, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” Darrell connected this to a story about his Doctor, Dr. Chad who had asked God to put many trials in his life for a year and help him to find joy in every situation. What Dr. Chad found is that that year was an extremely difficult year and he did not always automatically find the joy in situations. Some took longer than others, but he was eventually able to see the good God was able to produce. In 1 Peter 4:13, God commands us to find joy in our suffering, “But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”
As humans this can be extremely difficult. I myself admit that I have been angry at God in the past for placing so many trials in my life. I wanted to shout at him, “Can I please get a break?” But the fact is we live in an imperfect world. Bad things are going to happen, but what we can rejoice about is that God will turn every bad situation into something that we can learn from and reap something from.
Ryan Goude came up and shared a story about how he and two other members of his family group got their cars towed at a family social last week. His family was able to pray and come together and pay for the cars. They saw that even though getting their cars towed kind of stunk, it gave them the opportunity to still glorify God and have a family bonding time.
Like Dr. Chad’s story showed though, joy does not automatically happen. Sometimes it takes us a while to see the reasoning behind a trial in our life and appreciate what has come from that trial. Like I said, I have been angry at God for placing some trials in my life but I have not held on to that bitterness. Now I know that's rather silly, to get mad at God because trials are inevitable, but the comfort and love God gives us through these trials is never-ending.
After talking a good while about trials, he wrapped up the night with a good talk about encouragement. Since we are looking at 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 3:4-8 speaks of how Paul expected persecution, but was encouraged by the faith that Timothy still embodied after it all. We are able to encourage one another through our actions, but Darrell focused on how our words can encourage. He spoke of how sarcasm is so prominent in everyday speech. Sarcasm broken down in Greek means flesh and hole, which states the effect sarcasm can leave on people. Sometimes sarcasm is like being stabbed with a knife. We need to be conscience of our speech to others. We need to learn to be slow to speak and quick to listen. And that is listening to the words we are saying as well and realized how they can affect others.
“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other for everyone else, just as ours does for you.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12
This is a verse that we as BCM should try to embody so that we may encourage through speech and actions. How can you this week build other people up?
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