Borrowed Comfort

“For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.“

1 Thessalonians 3:7-8

We continue to find insights into the lives of pastors in our devotional journey through 2 Thessalonians. This week’s insight relates to finding deep joy in hard times. Paul and his team seemed to frequently live “in distress and affliction“ 3: 7. But there was a strong source of comfort underneath that suffering, and it came as these pastors witnessed the standing fast of their flock members in faith. As a Pastoral Team, this was where their joy was found, not in the relief of their own suffering but in the presence of faith in those they were sacrificially helping to grow. It’s the experience that any parent can relate to: when you see your children persevere through the hard things of life, you feel a gratification that is difficult to express. This can help you understand a pastor’s true joy. Encourage your own pastor this week by facing your challenges with the faith that your pastor taught you. By doing this, you will give him joy in his battle.

Father, grant me courage as I face the challenges of this week, if for no other reason than that my courage can be an encouragement to those believers who watch me, especially my own pastor. In Jesus’ name amen.