Two Purposes of Affliction

Well, go ahead and open your Bible to 2 Corinthians 1. And I know I've spoken on these verses sometime in the past. I don't know how long ago it was, how many years ago it was, but if someone prayed in the prayer meeting in the back, we need reminders. And I needed a reminder on when I last shared on this, so I trust if I couldn't remember, you guys as well are in a spot where you need to be reminded about these truths that Paul shares here in chapter 1 of 2 Corinthians.

Now, most laws about car safety, why are they there? Why did most car safety laws come into existence? Insurance claims being sued. Meaning, in other words, they came into existence because of what? Yeah, something happened in an accident and that generated the government to realize this is such a problem, we're going to make a law. Meaning, a tragedy, right? A tragedy is what put most of the laws in the books.

Someone had to die before others were protected. Someone else suffered pain. It created a law, and then that protects you and I and we don't suffer the same pain.

Isn't that an interesting idea? Someone's past pain leading to your future protection. You kind of don't want to be the guy or the woman who suffers the pain that ends up protecting others. We're not the ones wanting to do that.

But that's actually one of the purposes the Apostle Paul gives in 2 Corinthians 1. He gives a purpose for the afflictions that God puts you and I through. And one of those purposes is that your affliction is not wasted. It's actually going to be something God's going to use you to help others at a later date.

And so we're going to read 2 Corinthians 1, verses 3 to 11. So open your Bible there. In my message, I want to point out two purposes of affliction that we often overlook.

Two purposes of affliction that we often overlook. So 2 Corinthians 1. We'll start in v. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies. Isn't that amazing? Father of mercies.

The God of all comfort. Did you think about the Lord in that way? God of all comfort. Who comforts us in all our affliction.

And then notice what he says. He gives a purpose statement. God comforts us in all our affliction.

God gives us affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction. You see that? Paul's got logic here. God gives you an affliction.

Then God comforts you in the affliction. And it actually makes you able to do something. To comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, look how he says this, if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort. Do you catch what he's saying there? You're afflicted, it's for other people's comfort.

If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and your salvation. In the word salvation, the idea is your deliverance. And if we are comforted, it is for your comfort.

So you've got comfort all over. God of comfort. The word comfort's coming up again and again.

It is for your comfort which you experience when you patiently endure. So Paul's not saying we just get out of our trial. There's an eject button.

You patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken. For we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

And that kind of ends Purpose 1 here. And now let's look at Purpose 2 in this next section of 2 Corinthians 1. Look at verse 8. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. So Paul's talking about afflictions and now he's actually looking at a specific affliction that he went through.

Paul's sharing here about something he went through. Now he's sharing in a way where it's a little, you wish he would have mentioned this is exactly what I'm referring to in the book of Acts. And people will speculate.

But he's a little vague. Look at what he says. We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.

For we were so utterly burdened. And who's the we? Who's the we? Yeah, the missionary team. That's interesting.

You're on Paul's missionary team. And Paul feels utterly burdened. And it's not just Paul feeling utterly burdened.

Who else feels utterly burdened? Titus, whoever else is with him. I mean, they're all in the same state of feeling utterly burdened. That really shows a human side to Paul.

We were utterly burdened beyond our strength and what did that do to Paul? And not just Paul, remember the group. The group was affected in this way that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received a sentence of death.

Why? Why get burdened beyond your own strength? Why does the Lord put you in a situation where you feel like you've received the sentence of death? Look at Paul's answer. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death, but that was to do something. Again, purpose number two that we often overlook in our afflictions.

And what is that purpose? To make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril and He will deliver us. On Him, we've set our hope that He will deliver us again.

You also must help us by prayer so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessings granted us through the prayers of many. And we'll stop right there. So let's pray and then we're going to consider this.

Lord, I thank You. Even right now, You've already answered one prayer request. This very morning, something very specific was prayed.

You've already answered that very request. Lord, You are a God who hears prayer. Lord, I thank You.

I can read that verse and see the own help You've already given for something prayed. Lord, that's who You are. I thank You.

You're such a good God. Lord, I thank You for Your mercies to us. I thank You for all the truth You've given us.

Lord, I pray, even after coming out of the prayer meeting in the back and different burdens, Lord, I can feel a little burdened by things we're praying for. And Lord, that's right to feel burdened. But Lord, I just ask You, Lord, You'd give me joy as I share these truths with these precious saints, with these brethren.

Lord, I pray You give it clarity. Just give clarity in the mind that these two purposes that are often overlooked when we're suffering would just hit home in a fresh way. Lord, that those of us who've read this passage, that those of us who have seen these truths before, but they don't really hit home at the right time.

Lord, it kind of hits home later on. Lord, I just pray You'd make it real to Your precious people right now. And so, Lord, we thank You.

You're so good. You're so good to us. Pray this in Christ's name, Amen.

Alright, so 2 Corinthians 1. We just read verses 3-11. So we're going to look at two purposes of affliction, of suffering in your life, of why God brings it that we often overlook. We often overlook.

And you saw the first one is God afflicts us and comforts us so we can be able to comfort others. Afflictions are actually meant to equip you to comfort others. You should view afflictions as ministry training.

You say you want to become a better minister. You're actually saying, Lord, give me afflictions and then comfort me so I will be made able to comfort others in any affliction. Right? And Paul says it right there.

That's purpose 1. We forget about that. Purpose 2, afflictions are in our lives to make us stop relying on ourself. Even the mighty Apostle Paul had a self-reliance problem.

I mean, he's the one saying it. This happened to make him no longer rely on himself. If Paul can look at things that happened in his life and say that crushed me of my pride, we should be able to do the same.

And so that's the second purpose we often overlook. How is God using this affliction in my life to destroy self-reliance? But think of it in a positive way. It's not just meant to destroy self-reliance.

It's meant to produce what? God-reliance. God's got to get rid of the bad to bring in the new way of thinking in our lives. And so do you remember these truths when you're in affliction? Think back to the last major trial you had.

In the midst of that trial, did you think of these two things? Did you think, number one, Lord, how are You going to use this to make me able to minister to others better? Was that in your mind? Were you thinking of the second overlooked purpose? Lord, how are You using this to break me of my self-reliance? I mean, did those things even cross your mind? Did they even cross my mind? Every school runs fire drills. At least, I mean, a lot of you kids, well, the kids are in the back. But most of our kids, if I asked your kids, Reese, good to see you.

If I asked your kids what a fire drill is, they're not going to know because most of them are homeschooled, right? For those who are homeschooled. But I remember the fire drills. The kids would line up.

You'd exit calmly. You'd go to the meeting point. But what happens when an actual fire breaks out? You're tested to see if all the drills really worked.

Students often panic and they forget what they practiced and they go and hide in a corner. I mean, we do the same thing. I've got all this theory about how I should respond in affliction.

I've got truths from the Scriptures. And then the affliction comes and it's like the fire drill. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to go over there to that truth in 2 Corinthians 1, but instead of going over there, where do I go? I go and curl up in the corner of the classroom as the building is burning down around me.

So pay attention. This is a fire drill right now. Maybe for some of you, you're in a fire and this is actually going to be poured right on you in a way that it will help you.

But for many of us, this might be a fire drill. Remember these truths, so when the alarm goes off, you know where to go. Okay, you don't overlook these two things.

Now, one other thing just to consider here before I look at those two points is this question. When suffering, have you ever thought, this trial I'm in, it's too unique and it's too difficult for God to be able to comfort me in that trial. Have you ever thought that? Maybe you've never said it out loud, but have you ever quietly wondered, sure, God helps her, God helps him, but not me because my case is vastly different.

Have you ever thought that? Based on what we just read, what should be your answer when that thought comes into your mind? Look at the passage. What should be the answer to that thought? Someone give me the answer. True, but I have a unique situation.

God can't comfort me in this trial. What's it say? He comforts us in all our affliction. What's my deduction from that? Whatever affliction it is I'm facing, it's not outside of God's ability to comfort me.

He's the God of partial comfort, all comfort. We've got to remember that because that's one of the tactics of the enemy to get us to think that I'm in a unique situation and comfort is not available. Look, there are certain sicknesses you can get physically and there's no medicine available.

That's not so with God. When you suffer emotionally, spiritually, God is a God of all comfort. So we've got to believe that because if that's you here this morning, I want you to know Paul cuts that lie in half and he says the God who comforts us in all our affliction and that includes you.

Whatever it is you're going through, it's not too unique for the God who uniquely wove you together in your mother's womb, the God who uniquely saved you and brought you to Himself and the God who uniquely, as Paul says in Philippians 1.28, is graciously given you to suffer for His sake. And so whatever affliction God gives, He's got a fatherly purpose and we've got to believe that. Now, we find here in the passage, 2 Corinthians 1, verses 3 to 11, comfort, the word comfort.

Comfort, the Greek word, it just means the idea God comes alongside to strengthen you. This is, it's more than sympathy. There's times people show sympathy, but it doesn't exactly strengthen you.

You just feel like they're sympathizing. Well, God's comfort, the word here, it means He comes alongside to actually strengthen you. He draws near to encourage you and sustain you in the midst of the affliction.

Now, if your kid said to you, how would you describe God? What attribute would you describe is true of God? How many of us would say, God of all comfort and a Father of mercies? I mean, if your kids ask you, where's the place we'd probably go first? And maybe rightly so, because the Bible is very repetitious on this. What would we say? Holy, holy, holy. And that's true, God is holy, holy, holy.

But don't forget what Paul says right here to this church. Father of mercies and a God of all comfort. So that's just one thought I wanted to throw out there as well.

We want to remember that. And you think of His Son, Christ bore the greatest affliction. You and I ever could have suffered the wrath of God in eternal hell forever.

He suffered the greatest affliction. And what has Christ done? He's given us the greatest gift, eternal salvation. So anything we face, what would Paul call it? It is a light momentary affliction that is what? Nothing compared to what? The eternal weight of glory that waits for you that is beyond all comparison.

So we've got to remember that in the midst of this as well. So our afflictions are real though. Let's not waste them, right? If God has purposes in the midst of my suffering, I don't want to miss that.

So let's look at these two purposes of how God uses affliction that we often overlook. And so again, number one, God uses your affliction to equip you to comfort others. And if you missed it in the text, look back at verse four.

So you can just see it's there. I'm not making this up. Who comforts us in all our affliction.

So God gives the affliction. He comforts in the affliction. And Paul says, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.

And then he says it again in verse six. If we are afflicted, so if I am afflicted, it is for someone else's comfort, someone else's deliverance, not just for me. We are being made able.

God is using it to, it's ministry training. Suffering is ministry training to go minister to others. God's comfort is not meant to stop with you.

It equips you. It's for sharing. He intends that comfort to flow through you, not just to you, right? That's not God's purpose.

So every affliction from God's hand, it carries a double aim. He's got multiple, actually more than two purposes, but these are at least two, to bring you comfort and then to make you an instrument to comfort others. It's incredible.

So often we're so focused on ourselves and our trials that we don't think about how God might use this for someone else's good 10 years down the road, right? Do you ever think, I mean, imagine just thinking of that. I'm in a trial. Oh yeah, Lord, let me learn everything I can from this in the way you comforted me because I know 10 years down the road, I'm gonna have to help someone with this.

And think of how optimistic you would be in your trial. There's people I've talked to recently who've gone through different things that I'm going through and they were a great comfort to me. And they had wisdom from what they went through six, seven years ago.

And so one way to illustrate this, maybe this isn't the best illustration, but, and I forgot to bring it up here, but a gift card. When you look at a gift card, how do you, you get a gift card and do you think about it increasing in its limit? No, you think about this gift card. It has, let's say it's a $50 gift card to Chick-fil-A.

You look at that as once I've used up those $50, the gift card, what do you do with the gift card? You throw it away. I honestly think we can look at the comfort we get from trials in that same way. I'm in a trial, I'm suffering, God is comforting me.

And it's almost like, well, thank you, Lord. You used all this comfort. You comforted me.

And now I take this comfort and I put it in a drawer or I use it as a bookmark in my Bible and I don't go share it. Paul is actually saying in the midst of your trials, the value of the card is going up. It's not decreasing.

It's actually increasing in its balance so that you can then go take that and help others with the comfort with which you yourselves have received. And so we've got to view it rightly in that way. Some of you might think my comfort card, we'll call it that, my comfort card is empty.

And you don't actually realize how much value has been on it through all the afflictions you've gone through. We also see here from what Paul says that we need to be made able to comfort. In other words, we're not born again as ready-made comforters.

How much comfort do new believers... You don't want to throw all new believers under the bus. But you know what I mean. You're going through a trial and you go to the new Christian who's saved three months ago.

Do they tend to offer the best comfort or the person who's been 40 years a Christian? Am I making a right statement? Is that a right assessment? It brought an example. I remember at Fatty's, yeah, Craig rebuked me. How did that happen? I had absolutely no struggle for the assurance of salvation at all.

Like, I thought if you struggled, I couldn't sing the song, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. What's the name of that hymn? Yeah, I didn't want to sing that at church because I thought that's an unrealistic statement. That was my idea as a new Christian.

So I remember unloading all this on Craig at one point and he was like, brother, just give it some time. That's true. That's true.

We need time for certain things to become real. So Paul says, who comforts us in all our afflictions so we may be able, implying we're not just born again and able to be great comforters. Right? The nurse who becomes the nurse, they're not just a great nurse from day one.

They've got to learn on the job. And that's the same thing with us as a Christian. Those often who've suffered more often have more comfort to offer unless they respond wrongly in their suffering and become embittered toward the Lord.

We can fail to learn what we should in the midst of that. So when you're in pain, don't just say, why me? Lord, why me? But ask, Lord, how are you training me to be a comforter to someone else in the church at a later date in my life? Think that way. I think that's implied from what Paul's saying.

Think of this Psalm. Psalm 119.71. Does anyone have that memorized? Psalm 119.71. It's what that I've been afflicted? Good. Purpose statement.

What's the purpose? That I might learn the Word of God. John Piper in a Q&A was asked what's helped him the most in preaching and his answer was affliction. And he quoted that Psalm.

He said, in his suffering, that's when he most knew and understood the Word of God. So, affliction happens that I might learn. Affliction happens and comfort happens, Paul says, that we may be able.

There's a purpose. Paul, through the Spirit of God, is communicating to us and we, in the midst of a trial, in the midst of the fire drill, so to speak, we can overlook it and then we don't get as encouraged in the trial as we could because we're overlooking these realities. Now, another question you then ask is this.

Is the comfort that was given to me, is it confined to my own experience? Meaning, am I limited to only comfort? If I went through cancer, am I limited to only be able to uniquely comfort someone who also has cancer? Is that what Paul says here in the text? No. What grammar will point to the phrase that shows us Paul's not saying it's just based on matching experiences that you're now enabled to comfort someone if their experience matches yours? What verse? What verse shows us that's not what Paul's teaching us? Yeah, that you may be able to comfort anyone in any affliction. Is it true? Like, when we've had sisters who ended up having breast cancer, am I going to point them to Annette? Am I going to point them to Rachel? Yes, because there's going to be the uniqueness of the trial.

There's going to be comfort they can be specific in. So I'm not saying that's not true, but we don't want to narrowly view it in that way. This is why.

Get this. The point is not about you're going through the same suffering. The point is you are having the same comfort from God.

The power isn't in a matching story. It's pointing to the same God. You see, the common ground isn't, well, I went through the same circumstances.

The common ground is we have the same comforter that we've both found help through in the Lord, even if the trial is different. So we shouldn't say to ourselves, well, I can't help them because I haven't been through the same trial. If you've been to the same God and you've had the comfort from the same God that you're pointing them to, you can comfort them and assure them that God will strengthen and uphold them in the trial, even if it's different because you're pointing to the character of God, a God who does not change.

So if you've tasted God's comfort, you're equipped because Christ is the answer. So remember that. Yes, we should be strategic in pointing certain people to certain brethren who are struggling if they can really relate, if there's something more relatable.

I think there's wisdom in that. But I know some of you carry scars very deep from things you've gone through in a way you can't imagine. You can't imagine.

How could that ever do good? Well, I think Paul's wanting to encourage you. Whatever that is that comes to your mind, it can do good. It can be used to comfort others.

It can be used as an opportunity to teach others. I mean, in Christ, those scars can become the very place He uses you in their life to steady them at a later point. So as you suffer, do you ask, what are you teaching me so I can be helpful to others? What are you teaching me so I can be helpful to others? And just another example of how someone else's pain can be used to help others.

In 1937, does anyone know where New London, Texas is? Anyone heard of New London, Texas? In 1937, a school in New London, Texas, there were 10 minutes, 10 minutes, from being let out and the students being dismissed. And a gas explosion killed 294 people at that school. Why? The natural gas had no odor.

Well, what happened after that tragedy? What do you think happened? Yeah, they started putting odor in it. It was such an affliction, where they realized, we've got to do something about this. And that's exactly what they did.

After the regulators required adding this foul-smelling compound that lets you detect a leak. You see, that's the thing. You might have had some explosion and affliction in your life.

Don't talk that away. And that's where it ends. It's to make you able to comfort others with the comfort with which you yourself have received from God.

We've got to remember that. This tragedy could become a safeguard. That's the picture here.

God is redeeming your affliction. He's redeeming you going through cancer. He's redeeming the situation with a lost child in your life.

He's redeeming the situations to make you a greater comforter, that you can sympathize more with people in the midst of their trials. I think of all Jeff and Cheryl losing one of their children and how much that's been a comfort thing that Jeff and Cheryl have shared at different times. Even the video we put on the internet.

I mean, that's us seeking to obey this passage because they were made able to comfort others through the affliction. They didn't just store it away. They realized the value of this card, a comfort card, is going up.

It's not decreasing. So ask, who near you needs the very comfort God gave you? Ask that. Is there anyone right now in the church who needs comfort in some affliction? And I remember, oh, this specific way God comforted me.

What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about that? Turn to chapter 7. Let's look at an example because we're talking about comfort and us being made able to comfort others. Let's look at 2 Corinthians 7, verses 5. Let's look at an example of this. It might not be as dramatic as you think.

It also shows us, you don't just say, well, the Spirit's going to come and comfort you. You know, the Spirit's going to come and comfort the Mirandas. The Spirit's going to come and comfort JC and Noah in different situations.

You don't just say the Spirit's going to do it. God uses means, right? So look at the means right here. Verse 5, for even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest.

Hey, you guys can relate to that. You guys don't get as much rest getting up, right? Bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn. Sounds like a bad car ride.

You know, just getting blockaded at every turn. And then he says this, fighting without. So they faced opposition.

And then look what was within. Fear within. But God, who comforts us, comforts the downcast.

That's great. Our God comforts the downcast. Underlying that, if you don't believe it, God comforts the downcast.

How did He comfort them? How is this going to happen? God comforts the downcast. How? I want to learn from this. How does He do it? Well, what's it say? God comforted the downcast by sending the Spirit of God in a powerful way upon this person, by opening their eyes to understand certain passages in a specific way.

Is that what it says? But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. Huh. Okay, let's think a little further.

What's the deal with Titus? Not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you. Wait, so someone comforted Titus, and that comforted Titus, and then Titus takes the comfort he got from those people, and he comforts Paul? I mean, they're just spreading the comfort card around. You hear, you get a little of this comfort, and you get a little of this comfort, and you get a little of this comfort.

They're sharing comfort, which he was comforted by you, and then he says what happened. So something is communicating. This isn't just random comfort.

As he told us of your longing, who's the your? Who's the your referring to? Yeah, the Corinthians. Remember 1 Corinthians 1? They had a lot of problems, and Paul was writing to them about their problems. You remember that? Lost my place.

He told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. So Paul was comforted by a messenger giving a positive update about what God was doing at the church at Corinth. Right? So that helps.

Like what if someone I'm burdened for here, God's doing some good in your life, and I don't know about it, and then I find out. That comforts me. Like God's answering prayer.

God's helping them. I've been burdened for this individual. Then he says, for even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it.

For I see that the letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you're aggrieved, but because you're aggrieved into repenting. For you felt godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

And he goes on there. And so God used Titus to comfort Paul. Number one, just by having Titus come back was a relief to Paul.

Companionship in the ministry is a real relief. You're not alone in the fight. The second thing, Titus reported the Corinthians had responded to Paul's rebuke.

And that was really encouraging. As well, this renewed love for him. And so God didn't take away Paul's conflicts and Paul's fears, but God comforted him through a faithful brother encouraging him of news that encouraged Paul.

You see, so that's an example. In the same letter that Paul is mentioning this, that's the example I give you of it playing out. So a summary of purpose one that we often overlook in the midst of our trials is that God turns affliction into equipping you for the ministry.

The comfort you received is comfort to go and give to someone else. What he works in you through the suffering, through the comfort, he intends to work through you for others. You see that? Don't overlook that.

Don't forget that. Because in the affliction, you're approaching it in a different way. Yes, you're trying to be comforted.

You're thinking of that. But as God is comforting you and bringing you out of it, he's making you able, an able minister to comfort others. It could be a day later.

It could be 10 years later. I don't know. So remember that the next time affliction hits, God will, one, promise you comfort in any affliction.

So if you say, I don't feel comforted right now, well, God says there's comfort in any affliction. He doesn't say how fast it comes. I mean, how long was Paul in a state of despair? Doesn't say.

Could have been months. And then the second thing, the affliction is equipping you to comfort someone else. All right, so that's purpose one.

And purpose two is a little shorter. But we see purpose two that we often overlook in our suffering. We find that it's back to 2 Corinthians.

We found that in verses eight through 11, which are just, again, incredible verses. We read them earlier. Purpose two, we often overlook.

God uses affliction to destroy self-reliance. So we rely on him. That's one of God's purposes in Paul's life.

When I say Paul, you almost kind of think, well, Paul's on another level. If God uses that in Paul's life, how much more do we need this purpose? Paul goes from talking about affliction to now pointing to one specific crushing affliction. And if you weren't here in the beginning, look again at what he says.

Verse eight, utterly burdened beyond our strength. And again, the are is Paul and Titus and the missionary team. It wasn't just Paul feeling like this.

It was many people. Many is not right. It was a few of these ones laboring with him.

Utterly burdened beyond our strength, we despaired of life itself. And then he gets into his feelings. We do that too.

How do you feel in your trial? This is how I feel. How did Paul feel? He's like, well, I was standing before a judge and the judge hit the gavel and he said, you're gonna die. A sentence of death.

That's what Paul felt like. He felt like he was standing before a judge and the judge was telling him he's gonna die. I don't think I'm exaggerating what Paul's saying here.

I mean, doesn't that comfort you a little that Paul went through some season in his life like this? Did you find any comfort from Paul felt this way? Not to use it as an excuse to say, I just want to feel that way perpetually. But like if Paul went through that, he's more human than we might picture in our minds. So Paul was not emotionally subjectively above facing despair.

But again, why did God permit that? Look at it again. Verse nine, see this. He says how he felt they received a sentence of death and then he gives a purpose statement.

But that was to do something. To make us. The affliction made Paul and Titus do something or have a perspective.

Make us rely not on ourselves, but on God. And then he adds, who raises the dead? Meaning, you know what? I mean, even if you die in your affliction, guess what? God's going to raise you from the dead anyways. I mean, there's resurrection power.

It's like, I think he's minimizing. Don't look at this as that bad. The getting stoned, getting dragged out of the city.

Looks like you're dead. You get up, you go back in if that's when the season he's referring to. And then he even says after that, he delivered us and he will deliver us again.

Amazing. He's using this trial to have future confidence in the Lord. So Paul here is admitting that he had a self-reliance problem.

Paul's admitting that. Have you admitted that? Have I admitted that? And do I recognize that my father to get rid of this self-reliance problem, he brings out his options. Option one, option two, option three.

Sadly, option one, option two, option three, they're all the same. Affliction. It comes.

Affliction, the mighty slayer of self and pride. Affliction is God's classroom for us, teaching us to stop trusting in our own strength, our own wisdom, our own resources. God lets us get pressed to the point where we can't rely on ourselves anymore and we finally lean wholly on Him.

It's not cruel for God to let Paul feel crushed. It's loving because there's a better result and an outcome that comes from Paul getting crushed. It's a good thing.

God brings us to the end of ourselves, not to destroy us, but to deliver us from self-reliance. Does Paul spell out all the ways he relied on self? He doesn't. I don't know.

I don't know how Paul would, at least maybe it's in 1 Corinthians and 2 and I've not observed the subtle insight. Maybe you would have an answer for that. But we do know how many times, think of this, how many times did God need to do this to Paul? Was this a one-time thing? Make, I need to get you to stop relying on yourself and I gave you this affliction? Were you despaired of life? You know how we know that wasn't just one time in Paul's life? It happened another time.

Where was that? The same letter in 2 Corinthians 12. What did God do there to yet again teach the same lesson to Paul? What did He give him? A thorn in the flesh. What was the purpose? To make him not be what? Conceited, puffed up, proud.

Isn't that amazing? I didn't think of that until right now. That's the Lord. Two times recorded in Paul's life, God afflicts Paul to break him of pride and self-reliance.

You and I should expect that's gonna be a pattern in our life of what our Father is going to do to us and it's good. It's good because we can become conceited. We can become puffed up and God comes in there and He keeps Paul from becoming a proud man.

Right, we know of these Old Testament examples when God called Gideon to fight the Midianites. Gideon started with 32,000 soldiers. I mean, that's a great army.

I like that army. Got 32,000 and God says that's too many. Too many, Lord, the enemy has an army as numerous as the locusts.

How is 32,000 too many versus a million? We gotta think like God. We gotta think like the Lord. Judges 7, lest Israel boast over me.

God doesn't want us to boast. God stripped Gideon of every reason to trust in Himself. The odds were absolutely impossible and it was on purpose.

It was God's design. God wanted Gideon to know victory would not come by human strength, but by divine power. It's the same for you, Christian.

And Paul focuses on what? I mentioned it, God who raises the dead. So whatever trial you're in, it doesn't have the final word. Even if it's, say, the affliction of cancer and it's leading to physical death, it's the God who raises the dead.

So you find immense comfort that death, as Paul says to the Thessalonians, is just like going to sleep for the Christian. So do you remember these? I mean, that's my whole point. This is a fire drill and I'm giving you reminders so when the affliction comes, you're gonna not just hide in the corner of the classroom, you're gonna remember, okay, there's a few things that people often overlook in their trials.

Number one, this trial, not only is there comfort available in any affliction, but once I get that comfort, I don't just selfishly keep that to myself. It's to make me able to comfort others in any affliction. I need to take this and be a better minister to people.

Am I remembering that? And then secondly, the affliction is to make me stop being proud. Because Paul had a self-reliance problem and I do too. And you do.

If we could only see, even just start, let's just start at 5 a.m. this morning. You know, look at 5 a.m. till right now. If you look, are there any manifestations of self-reliance in your life? Of ways we're not as dependent upon our Lord who apart from we can do absolutely nothing? In verse 9, it says, that was to make us.

You hear that? We're in the manufacturing process. We're on the conveyor belt. And it's like, you know, God doesn't let you see ahead.

Oh man, I got a lot of affliction I gotta go through. You just kind of see the next stop. And the next stop might be, I get a painted, I get the, you know, let's say it's a piece of metal.

It gets painted. And you're like, wow, this is great. It got painted here.

And then over here, it's like, you get crushed back into a ball again. And then you get refined again. And it's to make us.

We've got to be made into something different than we are. And afflictions are part of that process. And prayer is a part of this process.

Look at verse 11. You also must help us by prayer so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessings granted us through the prayers of many. And what a privilege it is to pray for one another.

And again, the way I'm gonna be able to pray for you in a better way is knowing how should I pray for you? I could generally pray, Lord, you know, Lord help Vess, help Vess and Alice. Or I can pray some very specific things. Kind of like back to I remember what Tony prayed Wednesday night.

Just Lord, give us a greater season of hospitality. Because you know what? As you show hospitality, as you have people over, as you're building deeper relationships with people, you might not have that. You're gonna have a greater ability to bear their burdens, have a greater ability to offer them comfort.

So you might feel helpless when someone you love suffers. You might have offered comfort in five different ways and it seems to have no effect. Well, you know what? Paul says pray.

And blessing can be granted through the prayers of many. So we should be a praying people. I really appreciate it what our brother Nick shared Wednesday night.

If you don't know, Nick had not spoken, shared a message for I think three months. I mean, he was in such a place of, with everything that went on in his church, where he just couldn't even prepare a message. And while he was here, like he shared, the Lord was opening his eyes and seeing how like the disciples in his sorrow, he went to sleep and he checked out rather than praying all the more.

And that manifested even in him having a willingness and a liberty to share what he did with us. That's an example. He got comforted.

He got comforted in the midst of his affliction through comfort he even got from us, which could seem odd, as he said. And now he's back there ready to run again as a pastor in that church in Vegas. All right, well, a few other things here I think worth mentioning.

Can you say verse 10? Look at verse 10. He delivered us, so it's Paul speaking on behalf of the missionary team. He delivered us from such a deadly peril.

And may God do so with those over in Myanmar. And He will deliver us. On Him we've set our hope.

Isn't that something? You set your hope. Colossians 3, you set your mind. The Bible talks about setting, setting hope, setting mind.

On Him we've set our hope that He will do what? Deliver us again. Isn't that something? Paul's very optimistic. He sees his previous deliverances and he has confidence it's gonna happen again in the future.

Who else in the Bible had that thought? In the Old Testament? Who else spoke like that? He delivered us and He will deliver us again. Anyone know? Who? Daniel's friends. I mean, if they did, I don't know the verse.

That's not who had come to mind. David, listen to this. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.

1 Samuel 17, 37. David and Paul saw past deliverances. They remembered the strength of God and they believed in the future.

It fueled future faith. You gotta walk forward believing in view of these past things. There is help in the future.

So you could even, yeah, we should have increased trust in the Lord for future deliverance because of past deliverances. And so you could reword that verse, 1 Samuel 17, 37. The Lord who helped me turn away from lust yesterday will help me turn away today.

The Lord who provided rent money last month will provide for my needs this month. The Lord who gave me strength when I was anxious before the doctor's appointment will give me strength for the upcoming doctor's appointment to not be anxious. The Lord who carried me through the mess my child made this morning is gonna help me the next time it happens.

The Lord who carried me through the loss of one I loved will carry me through the grief I now face. That's how David thought. That's how Paul thought.

I mean, you take 1 Samuel 17, 37 and take the verse out and cut David out and stick yourself in there and stick your trial in there. Because it's not about your trial. He can comfort you in any affliction.

It's about your God. It's about Him. It's not about what we see dimly or not dimly.

That's our problem. We see the Lord dimly. We see everything in the physical and too real of a way and God is small.

So who near you needs the very comfort God has given you? Think of someone and go and give them that comfort. And it might not click right away. They might think, I'm not seeing it.

You know what? Go and pray. Lord, I thought that was like the exact thing they needed to comfort them and it's like they didn't hear it. Okay, Lord, would you please let them recognize it in your timing? Are you relying on the God who raises the dead? Or are you relying on self? Well, all right, is that 10.54? Yeah, some questions I thought would be good for you all to think about, just a few.

Can you think of any affliction you went through where at that time, you didn't understand why, but later God used it to equip you to comfort someone else? You understand that question? You might be curious. If you have some that comes to your mind we don't really have time right now to share it, but I'd love to hear from you on that. And then the second one, has there been a moment when you realized I never could have helped this person if I hadn't first walked through my own trial and been comforted by God? Where you look, it's like, it makes sense now.

Why I went through that? And then the last question, what's an example from your life where affliction forced you to stop relying on yourself and rely on God, and what did that look like? What did that look like? So those are some thoughts for reflection. I was hoping I could go shorter and if people had thoughts they could share it right now, but I failed in that. Well, I'm gonna pray, and then we do have a baptism.

Tori's gonna get baptized, and is it raining outside? Okay, well, either way, we put the baptismal out back. Yeah, so the playground has a blue cover, and it can kind of protect people from the rain. And we're gonna have an amplifier out there so she can share her testimony.

And so I'm gonna pray, and then we're gonna start working our way out there. One negative is we only have that one door, so you gotta get through Chris Howland and Joelle to make it out there. Let's pray.

Father, Lord, thank You. Thank You for caring about us in such a unique way. Lord, just like a father, I look at my seven kids, and they all have different areas they need help.

It's not all, in one way, there's broad issues that are all the same, but in a lot of ways, they're specific, unique things. And Lord, as a father, You know how I attempt to help each one of my kids. And Lord, we thank You that You are a far greater father than any of us dads can ever be.

And You are far more familiar and aware of all the inner struggles we have. Lord, You know someone here right now is despairing of life itself. Lord, I pray You, the God of all comfort, would comfort them, would give them truth, would give them encouragement.

Lord, even just subjective comfort from Your Spirit, if they're a child of Yours. Lord, I pray that those who don't even know You would come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give You rest. Lord, I pray You give rest to the weary souls who are outside of Christ.

Lord, I pray You would make us able in a greater way to comfort one another in any affliction. Lord, I pray You'd help us learn the lessons that You delight to teach us. Lord, I pray we would stop relying on ourselves.

Lord, Peter says it in another way. Let the one who serves serve with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything, God will be glorified. Lord, You won't be glorified if we serve with our own strength.

It's cursed. Our own personality, whatever it, Lord, we want to serve with the strength You supply. Lord, we don't want to become conceited.

We want to humbly rely on Your grace for when I am weak, then I am strong. Lord, what a paradox. Weakness produces greater strength.

Lord, who would have designed it this way? Who would have made Christian maturity as getting less and less reliant on self and more and more reliant on You? Lord, we want that. We want to rest on You. We want to abide in You and bear much fruit.

Oh God, help us. In Jesus' name, Amen.