One of the reasons I dislike camping is that it’s so uncomfortable. Sleeping on the ground, lots of bug spray with no shower—I suffer all day for a few minutes of bliss around the campfire. I ease toward the cheap comforts of a motel and miss a night under a million stars.

While my whiny camping experiences in no way compares in either severity or consequence, I’m impressed with the way the believers in Thessalonica responded to the good news Paul delivered. They welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

The gospel, the good news of the coming of the kingdom of God, Jesus the Messiah now in our midst, lifts the eyes of those in need. From the start of his ministry Jesus healed chronic, debilitating illness. This kind of power and conviction, with the reversal fear and alienation, arrived with Paul in Thessalonica. To the new believers the arrival of the kingdom of God make the suffering worthwhile.

I’ve heard it said, Jesus came to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Sounds reasonable to me. When I rest in on my couch, sated from a big Mexican dinner with remote in hand, my need for a savior fades. Much of our lifestyles focus on comfort and don’t get me wrong—I love comfort. But comfort draws my eyes away from the kingdom of God.

Here’s a weird thing to say, but fortunately life brings challenges and suffering. Difficulties lift my thoughts beyond myself, all the way to the Lord above. It’s through adversity that I begin to experience the joy given by the Holy Spirit. Not under my blanket binging Seinfeld.

I Thessalonians 1 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters