We don't like pressure, but pressure has a way of revealing what we're truly made of.

In fact, the Bible teaches that hardship is like fertile soil, the very place where faith takes root and grows strong.

For the church in Thessalonica, the pressure was intense. They were persecuted the very place where faith takes root and grows strong.

For the church in Thessalonica, the pressure was intense.

They were persecuted, afflicted, and pushed to the margins.

Yet when Paul wrote to them, he wasn't sympathetic, he was proud.

He boasted about their faith.

Today, on Insight for Living, Chuckswindall begins a new study in Second Thessalonians called Steadfast Christianity,

and he opens with a message titled Affirming the Afflicted.

In his book, No Greater Power, Richard C. Halverson, former chaplain of the United States Senate, wrote this.

Crush marbles and you get fragmentation, disintegration, hard, sharp pieces.

You can get hurt if you're not careful.

But crush grapes and you get fragrant, refreshing wine. Some people relate like marbles.

The fear of vulnerability hardens them.

They protect themselves, allow no one to penetrate.

Being vulnerable is high risk, and they want low risk.

They bump up against others and ricochet around, never enjoying a vital relationship.

In brittle lovelessness, they shatter when crushed and hurt others.

Some people relate like grapes, he continues.

They yield to pressure.

They accept their weakness as essential to intimacy.

They give love, knowing love is always vulnerable. Knowing love is the heart and soul of our faith. When crushed, they bring blessing, fragrant, redemptive blessing.

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