Insight for Living

Bill Meyer: Nobody writes poems celebrating pain. We run from our afflictions, we resent our hardships, and we secretly wonder if suffering was God's one mistake. But what if pain isn't a divine error? What if it's actually essential?

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll reveals why suffering is both inevitable and necessary in the Christian life. As we look at 1 Thessalonians 3, we'll discover how God uses affliction as His megaphone to speak truth that we'd never hear in times of comfort. Chuck titled today's message "When Your Comfort Zone Gets the Squeeze."

Chuck Swindoll: Try to imagine stacking up all the poems and essays ever written about the wonders of romantic love. How high would that pile reach? Would it be as tall as, well, the Empire State Building? Would it be as high as Mount Everest?

Now then, add to that stack the works on valor and patriotism and family. Oh my, who can count them all? But look around for a flowing lyric on the topic of pain. It's another story, isn't it? You won't find many. No, not about pain.

One writer acknowledges that. He writes, "I have never read a poem extolling the virtues of pain, nor seen a statue erected in its honor, nor heard a hymn dedicated to it. Pain is usually defined as unpleasantness."

He continues, "Christians don't really know how to interpret pain. If you pin them against the wall in a dark, secret moment, many Christians would probably admit that pain was God's one mistake. He really should have worked a little harder and invented a better way of coping with the world's dangers."

He's right. Pain and its companions—affliction, suffering, hardship, and adversity—are often seen as the invading enemies of life. Whenever we spy one of those coming at us, we tend to turn and run. We usually think life should be fair and straightforward, so when our comfort zones get the squeeze, truth be told, we feel angry.

And yet, according to the Bible, pain is a valid, it's a necessary part of life. And although we may not like it, we can learn to live with it and learn lessons from it.

There's a tension involved in trying to accept the pain that God allows while at the same time fighting to overcome it. But like the Thessalonians, we can find real help in our struggle when we learn to see pain from God's perspective. His Word reveals that suffering is both inevitable and essential.

For today's study, let's turn to that subject in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. I'll be reading for you verses 1 through 8 of the third chapter of 1 Thessalonians, where Paul writes:

"Therefore, when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone. And we sent Timothy, our brother and God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, so that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions, for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.

For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know. For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you; for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction, we were comforted about you through your faith. For now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord."

Bill Meyer: You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into 1 Thessalonians on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study workbook by going to insight.org/offer. Chuck titled today's message "When Your Comfort Zone Gets the Squeeze."

Chuck Swindoll: Physician Scott Peck calls it *The Road Less Traveled*. Scholar C.S. Lewis referred to it as God's megaphone. A contemporary author says that it is the gift nobody wants. English poet Byron referred to it as the path to truth.

But no one ever said it better than Isaac Watts, the hymn writer, as he asked direct and searching questions: "Am I a soldier of the cross, am I a follower of the lamb?" And again, "Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?"

I'm referring to pain. It's in pain that God speaks to us through His megaphone. Suffering is the road less traveled. Affliction is the path to truth. Hardship and adversity, these are the gifts nobody wants, but everybody needs.

And just the presence of these things in our lives creates a tension. For example, you attend your physician's presence, and he takes your x-ray, and a few days later contacts you and says, "We'll need to do a biopsy." And then after the biopsy, he immediately calls and asks for you to come, and he faces you with that horrible piece of information: "You have cancer."

There's no getting around it; the tension comes. Part of you says, "I will accept this. There is no such thing as a mistake in the life of the child of God. This is a road less traveled, and I want to travel it carefully and well. And I want to learn from this affliction what God is saying to me."

But a part of you in that tension says, "I will fight this to the end because I am a survivor, and because I believe there may well be a cure around the corner. And I will not succumb. I resist this thing. I will not lie down in my bed and give up hope and die an early death."

So the tension between acceptance and resistance comes upon us. And we fight between a God of sovereign control and a God of gracious mercy, don't we?

Every time I unwrap the gift of pain, however, I learn something. If I don't hurry the unwrapping, I even learn more. Don't you? You bet we do.

And this causes me to realize, even before we plunge into a few verses out of 1 Thessalonians 3, that there's reason to blow the dust off some very clear truths from the New Testament. And I have in mind, for example, Philippians chapter 1. If you have your Bible, look with me. And we're going to see that suffering is inevitable. There's no getting around it. It is inevitable. You will not escape it, nor will your children, nor have your parents.

Suffering is inevitable. It may be a road less traveled, but it is a road traveled by all. It's a painful, albeit inevitable path. Philippians 1:27: "Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel." Note the word striving.

"In no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too from God. For to you," note now, "to you, it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." If you've never marked a verse of scripture before in all your life, mark that one. You'll need it. You'll turn to it again and again before your life is over.

There are some today who are emissaries of false doctrine who say all suffering is wrong, all suffering is out of the will of God, if you suffer you are in sin, and since you are in sin, if you will deal sufficiently with your sin, your suffering will end. That is a lie. Stop believing it; stop listening to it. It is not founded on scripture.

To be sure, all suffering has its root in the fact that sin has entered the human race. But it has been granted not only that we believe in Him, but it has also been granted that we suffer. It's part of the life.

Turn from Philippians 1 to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians 4, and we'll start our reading at verse 7. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves." He continues, "We are afflicted," mark that. "Afflicted in every way but not crushed. Perplexed," mark that. "Perplexed but not despairing." Here's another one to mark: "Persecuted but not forsaken." And another: "Struck down but not destroyed."

The next word is the most important of the list: "Always." There it is again. It is inevitable. "Always carrying about in the body the death marks of Jesus, the dying, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body." That's one of the mysteries of God. By bearing up under the death-like lifestyle, you enter into the lifestyle of Christ: real living.

Says in verse 16: "We do not lose heart, though our outer man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day." Again, decaying. We are being renewed.

There's one more, and it is worth our turning: 1 Peter chapter 4 toward the end of the New Testament. Locate verse 12. There are many who see suffering as unusual. Philippians 1:29 says we're called to it. Some see it as rare. 2 Corinthians 4 says we are frequently knocked down. Some say it is strange, surprising that a child of God would suffer.

1 Peter 4:12: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed."

Now look at that, Christian. Are you right now being reviled? Are you right now under attack as a soldier of the cross? Rejoice! It's part of the package. It is essential. It is inevitable. You are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer or thief or evildoer or a troublesome meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God.

Now, that's one side of the coin: it is inevitable. And we could multiply these by several dozen, believe me. The scriptures are interwoven with a network of truth regarding suffering. It's part of the life.

There's another side of it, and that's the part that says it's essential. Over in the book of Psalms, in the longest of the Psalter, number 119, there are three verses separated from one another but connected with the same thought. Psalm 119:67, 71, and 75.

Suffering is not only inevitable; the pain that it brings is essential. But this is the part that we don't like. We want our comfort. We want our comfort zone. But God invades it.

Psalm 119:67: "Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep Thy word." Reminds me of how you must train a little dog. And if you have one, you know what I mean. No one has ever trained a little lovely pet without pain. It's just part of it. And you of all things find yourself with this little life having to inflict pain for what reason? To train it. To teach it to do what is best. To show it what you will smile upon and what you will frown upon, so that this little creature learns to bring pleasure to its master.

Nothing is worse than being around an untrained pet. There is something worse: an untrained child is worse than an untrained pet. And they go together on occasion, that whole idea of affliction for the purpose of training.

Now look at verse 71: "It's good for me," says the psalmist. "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Thy statutes." I had a man tell me just about a week and a half ago, "God never had my attention until He laid me on my back, and did I listen." And this is one strong-willed, stubborn man who said that, and he was fighting back the tears. And he's only been in this crucible about 12, 15 days.

It was good for me that I got cut down to size; then I learned. I learned through His megaphone. I learned in that path to truth. I discovered things. One more: 75, same chapter. "I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are righteous and that in faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me."

A.W. Tozer said it in a way that few people have said it better: "It is doubtful God can use anyone greatly until He has hurt him deeply." You will not find my using the word "easy" in this talk. It isn't easy. It isn't comfortable. It is uncomfortable on purpose. It must be.

Now, if you are familiar with your Bible, you won't have trouble locating Ecclesiastes 7. If you are not familiar, it is a couple of books beyond Psalms: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, chapter 7. Just one more passage on the essential nature of pain. Chapter 7, Ecclesiastes, verses 13 and 14: "Consider the work of God."

Now I want to meditate orally on this passage and just have you do that with me. Let's have an understanding that for the next few moments we're going to just sort of let this passage wash around in our minds. Ecclesiastes 7:13: "Consider the work of God, for who is able to straighten what He has bent? In the days of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider."

C-O-N-S-I-D-E-R: consider. Before reading any further, study it. The term in the Hebrew means to inspect. It was used in Exodus 3:4 for Moses. When the bush began to burn, he said, "I will now turn aside and consider why the bush is not consumed. I will make an investigation."

It carries the idea of perceiving, and when it is used of oneself, the idea of revealing to oneself the truth. It's the thought of examining for the purpose of evaluating. It's what you do, business men and women, when you hire a consultant. The consultant comes into your firm and the consultant has the right to ask the most pointed and—it may seem at times—vicious questions as he or she goes to the heart of your company to see what is there. You pay good money for that investigation. Now this is a self-consulting experience. Translated "consider."

Let's go back: "Consider the work of God, for who is able to straighten what God has bent? In the day of prosperity be happy, but in a day of adversity inspect. Examine. Gain some objective instruction. Slow down and listen."

God has made the one as well as the other, so that we may not discover anything that will be after us. Now in all of the examination, you will not find anything about the future, but you will sure learn about the past. You will really see yourself. And I say again, it takes pain to see yourself as you really are.

Carlyle, the Scottish essayist, was right: adversity is hard on a man. But for one who can handle prosperity, there are a hundred who can handle adversity. For some of you, it's in a time of prosperity that the real test has come. Pain will come in prosperous times just as in adverse times.

Maybe it was in such prosperous times that the Thessalonians were set back on their heels. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Now, all of that is just preliminary that we've been looking at. So it's on the basis of that foundation we want to build some thoughts from this example of suffering in the Macedonian church at Thessalonica.

First of all, I find in this section of scripture a concern for these people on the part of Paul, who was the founding pastor, the apostle, the one who originally led them to faith. He was the human agent. But now he, as you may remember, has been pulled away from them. He calls it "orphaned." He is bereft of them, it says in the latter part of chapter 2.

Out of persecution because of affliction, it was clear that he could no longer stay in Thessalonica. And before he was ready, he was uprooted and pushed on his way, and he wondered how they were doing in the storm that he left in his wake. And he had been wondering about it for over a year. He says so in chapter 3 and verse 1: "When we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone. And we sent Timothy to find out how you're doing. We sent Timothy, our brother," see the relational concern, "God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, we sent Timothy because we didn't know how you were doing in the storm."

Take a close look at verse 2, the latter part of it. He sent Timothy for two reasons: number one to strengthen, and number two to encourage them as to their faith. And that's important.

Let's take those two terms. The word "strengthen" means to shore up or to buttress, an old word we don't use today: to buttress. One man says it's to put a ramrod down one's back to enable him to stand straight and erect come what may. Pretty good word picture.

I sent Timothy to put a ramrod in your back so that you wouldn't shuffle around as though you were being mistreated, but you'd stand straight, you'd stand erect like a steer in a blizzard. You'd refuse to bend against all odds. I sent him to add strength to you. Paul says you needed somebody alongside to buttress you, to help you keep from surrendering.

Now, the second word is a comforting word: *parakaleo*. We get the word "Paraclete" from it. It's often translated "comfort" in the New Testament, but here it is rendered "encourage." It is the idea of standing alongside another person to put courage into them. There's not a lecture in it; there's modeling in it. There isn't a put-down in the word; there is an arm of reassurance in it.

Bill Meyer: You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into 1 Thessalonians on your own, be sure to check out the variety of helpful study tools we have for you at insight.org. We recommend starting with the Searching the Scriptures Bible Study workbook for this series. It's ideal for personal reflection as you apply the same Bible study methods that Chuck Swindoll uses.

In addition, you can listen to the complete collection of 12 sermons in this series. It's called "Contagious Christianity." Check out the audio files or use our convenient mobile app, where listening to Chuck's full-length messages is free.

And then one of the most popular books in Chuck's collection is an ideal complement to our current teaching series. It's a book called *Laugh Again: Experience Outrageous Joy*. You know, some of us haven't laughed in a long, long time. How about you? When was the last time you threw back your head and roared with laughter?

Well, in his book *Laugh Again*, Chuck explores Paul's secret to outrageous joy. Paul's letter to the Philippians was written from a prison cell. And if Paul could find joy while bound in chains, imagine what God wants to do in your life. You can request a copy of *Laugh Again* when you make a gift to support the ministry of Insight for Living.

Call us at 800-772-8888 or visit insight.org/offer. Your gift to Insight for Living accomplishes far more than covering the cost of a book. Your contribution today will help someone you may never meet find a reason to smile. We'll send you the book *Laugh Again* when you call us at 800-772-8888 or visit insight.org/offer.

I'm Bill Meyer. Chuck Swindoll describes what to do when your comfort zone gets the squeeze Thursday on Insight for Living.

Narrator: The preceding message, "When Your Comfort Zone Gets the Squeeze," was copyrighted in 1984, 1985, 1993, 2003, 2024, and 2026, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026 by Charles R. Swindoll Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.