English Standard Version
I know that I've said it before, but I'm going to keep saying it -- let no one tell you that suffering is not a part of the Christian life. There are preachers in this world who will proclaim that suffering is due to a lack of faith, or that if you pray hard enough or believe properly, you won't have suffering, but that you'll have plenty of money and perfect children and a trim waistline. These people are wrong. They're also probably asking for generous donations and the only thing that really happens is they end up with plenty of money.
The apostles in the Bible, the ones who walked with Jesus and listened to Jesus (and abandoned Jesus) and ultimately died for Jesus, well, they had really strong faith. But they suffered for it.
Here, Paul is telling the Thessalonians that Paul was going to suffer, but his focus isn't on his suffering -- it's on encouraging the faith in others. That's what Paul cares about -- not about the suffering! The suffering was just a part of life -- the faith in Jesus Christ is what mattered!
So if you are suffering in any way, this is not a reflection of your faith. It's the reality of living in a broken world, and everyone suffers in different ways. The people who you see portraying a perfect life on social media have suffering, too. They just don't post about it on social media because it's not very popular.
But it's okay to have suffering. God still loves you, still treasures you, still considers you God's glory and joy. So do not give up hope. Despair loses and God wins!
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