Every follower of Jesus is called to endure suffering, though the nature and degree of that suffering may differ from person to person. For some, it is the internal struggle to put to death sinful habits and patterns, while for others, it is the external challenge of facing opposition or persecution as they live out their faith. The discomfort and difficulty that come with following Jesus are not signs of failure but are inherent to the path He has set before us. Rather than comparing our suffering to that of others, we are invited to recognize that our unique hardships are part of the specific calling God has placed on our lives, and that He is with us in every trial. [16:13]
2 Timothy 2:3-7 (ESV) "Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything."
Reflection: What is one area of your life where following Jesus has brought discomfort or challenge, and how might you see this as part of your unique calling rather than something to avoid or compare with others?
Day 2: The Power of Sharing in Suffering—With Others and With Christ
There is a profound strength that comes from not suffering alone, but sharing in suffering with others and with Jesus Himself. When we endure hardship together, whether in community or in the presence of Christ, we find encouragement, resilience, and a sense of withness that makes the burden lighter. The Spirit of God assures us that we are not only children and heirs, but also co-sufferers with Christ, experiencing a unique nearness to Him in our trials. This shared suffering is not about seeking pain, but about recognizing the deep fellowship and support that comes from walking through difficulty together, both with fellow believers and with Jesus, who is always present in our pain. [23:56]
Romans 8:16-18 (ESV) "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."
Reflection: Who is someone you can invite into your struggle or suffering this week, or how can you intentionally seek Jesus’ presence in your pain rather than isolating yourself?
Day 3: Staying Focused on the Mission—Avoiding Distractions
As followers of Jesus, we are called to live with the focus and discipline of a soldier, not allowing ourselves to become entangled in pursuits that distract us from our true mission. While many things in life are good or even necessary, they can become obstacles if they interfere with our calling to make disciples, care for others, and spread God’s kingdom. The motivation for this focused living is not guilt or obligation, but the desire to please Jesus, the One who enlisted us and gave everything for us. By keeping our eyes on Him and the mission He has given, we can discern what to say yes to and what to lay aside for the sake of something eternal. [29:05]
2 Timothy 2:4 (ESV) "No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him."
Reflection: What is one good thing in your life that may be distracting you from your calling, and how can you reorient your focus to please Jesus above all else?
Day 4: Faithful Endurance Brings Eternal Reward
God calls us to endure hardship and remain faithful, not just for the sake of endurance itself, but because He promises an imperishable reward. Like the athlete who trains and competes according to the rules, or the farmer who works hard for the harvest, our faithfulness—even when it is difficult—will be rewarded by God. This reward is not something we earn by our own strength, but a gracious gift from God, who delights to share His inheritance with us. Fixing our eyes on the eternal prize—Jesus Himself, fullness of joy, and pleasures forevermore—gives us the motivation to persevere through suffering, knowing that what awaits us far surpasses any temporary pain. [41:45]
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (ESV) "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."
Reflection: When you face discouragement or suffering, how can you remind yourself of the eternal reward God promises, and what practical step can you take today to fix your eyes on Jesus?
Day 5: Meditating on God’s Word Brings Understanding and Strength
God invites us into a partnership where we actively meditate on His Word, thinking deeply, discussing, and allowing it to move from our minds to our hearts and actions. As we do the work of reflection and meditation, God promises to give us understanding and wisdom for the challenges we face. This ongoing process is not just for pastors or leaders, but for every believer, and it is essential for living out our calling with faithfulness and resilience. By continually returning to Scripture, talking about it with others, and seeking God’s insight, we are equipped to endure suffering, stay focused on our mission, and experience the fullness of life God intends. [13:44]
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (ESV) "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."
Reflection: What is one passage of Scripture you can meditate on, discuss, or write out this week, and how might you invite God to give you fresh understanding and strength through it?
Sermon Summary
Life is full of challenges, discomfort, and suffering, especially when we step into the unique callings God has placed on our lives. Reflecting on my own upbringing, I remember the “fight days” my dad orchestrated to toughen me up—not because he wanted to see me suffer, but because he knew that real growth and resilience are forged in adversity. In a similar way, Paul writes to Timothy, his spiritual son, urging him to “share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Timothy’s assignment in Ephesus was daunting: he was sent into a church riddled with conflict, false teaching, and spiritual wolves. Paul doesn’t minimize Timothy’s suffering or compare it to his own; instead, he affirms that each person’s suffering is unique to their calling, and that it is a necessary part of faithfully following Jesus.
Paul gives Timothy three vivid images: the soldier, the athlete, and the hardworking farmer. Each one highlights a different aspect of endurance and focus. The soldier is not distracted by civilian affairs but is single-minded in pleasing the one who enlisted him. The athlete must compete according to the rules, accepting that the path of faithfulness will inevitably include suffering. The farmer works hard, trusting that God will provide the growth, and is promised the first share of the crops. These metaphors remind us that suffering is not a detour from God’s will, but often the very path to fruitfulness and reward.
Yet, Paul’s encouragement is not just to grit our teeth and bear it alone. He calls Timothy—and us—to “share” in suffering. There is a profound strength that comes from enduring hardship together, both with other believers and with Christ himself. Jesus does not merely watch us from a distance; he suffers with us, and in our pain, we experience his presence in a unique and tangible way. Ultimately, the reward for our faithfulness is not just relief from suffering, but the fullness of joy and life in the presence of Jesus. He shares his own inheritance with us, inviting us into eternal communion and delight. As we meditate on these truths, fixing our eyes on the eternal prize, we find the courage to persevere, knowing that every tear and every trial will be worth it.
Key Takeaways
1. Suffering is an integral part of faithfully living out God’s call, but it is uniquely tailored to each person. Comparing our hardships to others’ can diminish the significance of what God is doing in us. Instead, we are invited to embrace the specific challenges that come with our own journey, trusting that God is at work in the midst of them. [16:57]
2. The call to “share in suffering” is a call to community. Enduring hardship alongside others—whether in our families, our church, or with Christ himself—gives us strength and resilience that we could never muster alone. There is a mysterious “withness” in suffering that deepens our bonds and reveals the nearness of Jesus in ways comfort never could. [22:49]
3. Staying focused on our mission requires saying “no” to even good things that might distract us from God’s purpose. Like a soldier who avoids entanglement in civilian affairs, we must continually discern what is essential and what is secondary, motivated not by duty alone but by a desire to please the One who called us. [29:05]
4. The path of faithfulness will always include difficulty, and there is no shortcut around it. Like the athlete who must compete according to the rules, we cannot avoid suffering if we want to walk in the way of Jesus. Attempting to sidestep discomfort may bring temporary peace, but it leads us away from the life and reward God intends. [34:12]
5. God promises an imperishable reward to those who endure: not just relief from pain, but the fullness of joy in his presence. Amazingly, Jesus shares his own inheritance with us, inviting us into eternal communion and delight. Fixing our eyes on this hope empowers us to persevere, knowing that every sacrifice will be more than worth it. [42:46]
2 Timothy 2:3-7 (ESV) — > Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Romans 8:16-18 (ESV) — > The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Observation Questions
What three images does Paul use to describe the Christian life in 2 Timothy 2:3-7, and what does each one highlight about following Jesus?
According to Romans 8:16-18, what is the connection between suffering and being heirs with Christ?
In the sermon, what kinds of suffering does Timothy face in Ephesus, and how are they different from Paul’s own suffering? [[16:13]]
What does Paul mean when he tells Timothy to “share in suffering” rather than just “suffer”? [[19:54]]
Interpretation Questions
Why do you think Paul uses the examples of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer to encourage Timothy? What do these images teach us about endurance and focus in the Christian life? [[26:34]]
The sermon says that suffering is “uniquely tailored” to each person’s calling. How might comparing our suffering to others’ be unhelpful or even harmful? [[16:57]]
What does it mean to “share” in suffering with others and with Christ? How is this different from suffering alone? [[22:49]]
According to the sermon, what is the ultimate reward for enduring suffering faithfully, and how does this perspective help us persevere? [[42:46]]
Application Questions
The sermon described how Timothy’s suffering was unique to his calling, and Paul didn’t compare it to his own. Is there a challenge or hardship in your life right now that you tend to compare to others? How might embracing your own journey change your perspective? [[16:57]]
Paul calls Timothy to “share in suffering” with others. Who in your life can you invite into your struggles, or who might need you to walk alongside them in theirs? What’s one step you can take this week to share in suffering together? [[22:49]]
The soldier avoids distractions to stay focused on his mission. What are some “civilian pursuits” or distractions in your life that might be keeping you from fully living out God’s call? What is one thing you could say “no” to this week to say “yes” to God’s purpose? [[29:05]]
The athlete must compete according to the rules, even when it’s hard. Are there areas in your faith where you’re tempted to look for shortcuts or avoid discomfort? What would it look like to stay faithful even when it’s difficult? [[34:12]]
The farmer works hard, trusting God for the results. Is there an area where you’re working hard but not seeing fruit yet? How can you trust God with the outcome and keep going? [[35:40]]
The sermon said that Jesus suffers with us and shares his inheritance with us. When have you experienced God’s presence most deeply in a time of hardship? How did that change you? [[25:16]]
Fixing our eyes on the eternal reward helps us persevere. What is one practical way you can remind yourself of the hope and joy that is coming, especially when you’re in the middle of a hard season? [[42:46]]
Sermon Clips
There is a suffering that awaits Timothy as he lives into his call. And Paul knows this suffering for Timothy is different than suffering for Paul. Where's Paul at this point? Anyone know prison? Is Timothy in prison? No. So Paul's not calling Timothy into prison. He's calling him to suffer in a different way than Paul. If you look at the book of second Corinthians, Paul gives a list of all the kinds of things that he endured for the gospel. Imprisonment and torture and beating with whips and rods and all kind of stuff he endured. And Timothy, to the best that we know, didn't have to endure all of those things. So the suffering that Timothy endured is different from the suffering that Paul endured. And Paul doesn't like, put it on a level. He's not like, endure suffering but like, you know, lesser suffering than I had endure. So not really suffering. Right? Let's compare suffering and what you call suffering. It's not really suffering. We do that a lot in our day and age, don't we? Timothy's suffering was unique to the call that God had placed on his life.
[00:16:13]
(63 seconds)
#UniqueSufferingCalls
But when we think about suffering, for us, there's really two major levels of suffering. There's the internal suffering that happens as we try and as Paul would say, put to death the flesh. Right. The sinful desires that are going on in us. The habits and patterns that are deeply ingrained in us. The addictions to things that are ungodly and unhelpful and harmful. Right. As we try and do that, as we try to live godly in Christ Jesus, there's gonna be that difficulty. It's difficult to forgive when we don't want to, when it's hard, when we've been hurt very painfully in our past. Right. There's some discomfort that comes from that. There's difficulty when pride is kind of the normal thing at our console and we're called to live humbly. There's difficulty when we're addicted to lust and we're called to love instead. There's difficulty when anyone anger is stewing in us and we're called to be generous and love. Right. It's difficult to live a godly life. It is. There's discomfort and difficulty that comes with. There's some internal suffering that happens.
[00:17:15]
(68 seconds)
#InnerBattleFaith
I would much rather share in suffering than suffer alone. Right now, I have a number of examples. I'll give you a silly one. When I was a kid, being the oldest guy, it was part of my responsibility to take care of the yard, especially when it came to raking the leaves. That happened. We lived in the Midwest where the leaves fell in the fall, not the spring, which is why it's called fall, but whatever. And we lived where there were trees everywhere. Big gigantic trees. Just had, you know, just multiple, multiple leaves. Right? They had no lack of leaves. And so we would get, you know, leaves that would pile up on the ground. And so it was my job to rake them. And I tell you what, when my brother would help me, when my dad made my brother help me, to be honest, when he made my brother help me, even though we can put help in quotes, because he was three years younger, I mean, I was probably eight years old doing this and that makes him five. So I don't know how much help he was, but for some reason it was better because he was there.
[00:20:33]
(67 seconds)
#StrengthInSharedSuffering
There's this beautiful thing that happens in community that gives us extra strength to endure the difficulty and discomfort that comes in this life. As we represent Jesus now, there's a sharing with one another. Paul is inviting Timothy to share in suffering with Paul. He's not doing the same suffering that Paul is doing. He's doing different suffering. But because their goal is the same, to spread the gospel, they're on the same mission. And even though the suffering is different, there's a togetherness that happens in Christ.
[00:22:49]
(30 seconds)
#SufferingUnitesWithJesus
There's this beautiful thing that happens in community that gives us extra strength to endure the difficulty and discomfort that comes in this life. As we represent Jesus now, there's a sharing with one another. Paul is inviting Timothy to share in suffering with Paul. He's not doing the same suffering that Paul is doing. He's doing different suffering. But because their goal is the same, to spread the gospel, they're on the same mission. And even though the suffering is different, there's a togetherness that happens in Christ. You can, you know, there's a ton of material that you can read on this, stories that you can hear about people who've gone through incredible suffering, being in prison for their faith, being tortured for their faith. And when they were with other people, it was better.
[00:22:49]
(43 seconds)
God didn't come as Jesus put on flesh, Emmanuel, God with us. He didn't come to relieve our suffering, to change our circumstances. Instead, he came to be with us in our difficulty, our pain, in our sorrow, in our tragedy. Paul says, suffer with. It's a suffering with Paul, and it's a suffering with Jesus.
[00:25:22]
(24 seconds)
#UntangledMissionFocus
No soldier in active Duty gets entangled in civilian pursuits. This word entangled, I think it's. It's really helpful. It means two things. There's two aspects to this word. One is involuntarily being interlaced to the point of immobility. Immobility, meaning you're tied up, you're tangled up, and now you can't move. And so he's saying, look, for a soldier, what can happen is those things that civilians do can keep you from engaging on mission. Second aspect involved in an activity that interferes with another objective. There's an objective that needs to be accomplished. There's something that needs to happen, that needs to be taken care of, that is important, that supersedes the civilian pursuits that are going on. It's not that the civilian pursuits are bad or negative. It's just there's an objective that supersedes it. And those other things can entangle you and interfere with you completing your objective.
[00:28:05]
(59 seconds)
#PleasingJesusMotivation
There is following Jesus and there is not following Jesus. And following Jesus will entail some amount of discomfort and difficult and even suffering, maybe even for some of us, definitely in this world, torture and death. Jesus didn't sugarcoat it. He said, if anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. There is difficulty in following in the footsteps of Jesus.
[00:34:36]
(29 seconds)
#EternalOverTemporary
The things in this world that motivate me are going to pass away. They're going to give way, they're not going to last. And Paul says, there's something that will last that is not perishable, that will pass through life, through death, into eternity. That's beautiful that we can receive.
[00:39:41]
(20 seconds)
#SufferingGodInheritance
As our call as followers of Jesus takes us through difficulty, through discomfort, through suffering and persecution. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, knowing that we are together in community, together with him, we will be able to get through the suffering.
[00:45:34]
(21 seconds)
My mind is continually blown because the God who suffers with us wants to also give us the inheritance he earned. As we, you and I, stumble through the call he's given us. Did you hear that? The God who suffers with us also wants to give us the inheritance he earned. As we stumble, not perfect, not, you know, success through, but we stumble through the call that he's given us. Our God is so incredible, so beautiful, so my, so mind blowing. It rocks my world.
[00:45:54]
(45 seconds)
