Affliction should not surprise a Christian. Speaking of suffering, Paul told the Thessalonian believers plainly: “We are destined for this” (1 Thessalonians 3:3). Suffering—whether persecution for the faith or the various trials that come simply from living in a broken world—is woven into the fabric of the Christian life. But affliction does not arrive in a vacuum. It arrives as a test: a test of the faith of the one who suffers, and a test of the love of those who stand nearby.
James puts it plainly: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). These trials range from sickness, financial hardship, and marital difficulty to outright persecution—being treated badly because of one’s trust in Christ. Our Lord himself warned as much: “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). The question is not whether suffering will come. The question is how the body of Christ will respond when it does.
From 1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:5, Paul, Silas, and Timothy model for us three kinds of effort that believers should make towards suffering brothers and sisters.
Make Enthusiastic Efforts
Paul describes the separation from the Thessalonian church as being “torn away”—present in body, but never in heart (2:17). The afflictions he had warned them about had arrived, and yet he and his companions were prevented from returning to them. His response was not passive resignation. He “endeavoured the more eagerly and with great desire” to see them face to face (2:17). He tried again and again. Only Satan, he says, hindered them.
The reason for such restless eagerness is not hard to find. When Paul thinks of these believers, what fills his mind? “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy” (2:19–20). This is the vision of matured, gospel-shaped love. These suffering saints were not a problem to be managed from a distance; they were people of eternal worth, bound to Paul by bonds stronger than blood.
That bond—the unity of all believers in Christ, for which Jesus prayed in John 17—is meant to produce the same restlessness in us. When a brother or sister is in the grip of affliction, our first instinct should be to go to them. Not to send a brief message and move on, but to plan, to make time, to be present. Incarnate fellowship matters. The effort to arrange a visit, drive to the hospital, or sit with someone at their kitchen table reflects the preciousness of the people for whom Christ died.
It is Satan, not God, who is behind every hindrance to such efforts. Excuses are his tools. Indifference is his ally. Where there is no effort to serve suffering saints, he is satisfied.
Make Sacrificial Efforts
When direct plans were blocked, Paul and his companions did not simply accept the situation and move on. They devised an alternative, which cost them dearly. They sent Timothy. But Timothy was not merely a junior co-worker; Paul regarded him as a son in the faith, a faithful partner whose absence from Athens left Paul feeling forsaken and alone (3:1).
To send Timothy was to give up personal support for the sake of suffering believers. That is the shape of sacrificial effort: not what is convenient, but what is costly. The goal remained unchanged—to be with these afflicted saints, to nurture them—and they pursued that goal even when it meant personal inconvenience and loss.
This challenges the ease with which we measure our obligations to suffering believers. If physical presence is genuinely impossible, an alternative should be found—but that alternative must still carry the weight of genuine desire to be there. A phone call made from duty is not the same as one made from love. Sending a message because it is more comfortable than meeting in person (when that is feasible) falls short of what the passage describes.
Our fellow believers are in pain, grief, and doubt. They need the body of Christ to feel their pain with them: “If one member suffers, all suffer together” (1 Corinthians 12:26). Let your life be interrupted for a moment so that a suffering believer is not left to face their trial alone.
Make Spiritual Efforts
Enthusiastic effort gets us there. Sacrificial effort keeps us going when it is hard. But the peak of all our efforts—the thing that distinguishes Christian comfort from mere human sympathy—is spiritual effort.
Timothy was sent specifically “to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions” (3:2–3). The goal of presence is not only warmth but strength. The Thessalonians had already been taught what to expect; they were not surprised by their suffering. Timothy came to sit with them in the examination room, so to speak—to ensure that the knowledge they had received was being applied under pressure.
The word of God, rightly understood and faithfully applied, is what produces true comfort, genuine hope, and steadfast trust. Before trouble comes, equip yourself. Read Job, the Psalms, James, and 1 Peter—books shaped by suffering. Memorise passages such as 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Take that verse with you when you visit. Open your Bible in the hospital ward. Paste a Scripture into a message before you send it.
The stakes of this are high. If gospel-shaped friends do not reach the suffering believer, others will. And the counsel they offer—however sincere—may be spiritually dangerous. Job’s friends prayed and wept and sat with him. But their counsel was wrong, and God’s anger burned against them for it (Job 42:7). Biblical knowledge, not merely well-meaning presence, is what the suffering Christian needs.
In Matthew 25, our Lord identifies himself with his suffering people: “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (v. 40). To serve a suffering believer is to serve Christ. These three efforts—enthusiastic, sacrificial, and spiritual—are how that service takes shape. They are also the test by which the genuineness of our own faith is revealed.
May we be found faithful to one another when the trial comes.
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