18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
Everyone needs to be encouraged at times in their lives. Everyone! The Thessalonian believers were being told that they had missed the greatest event in history. They were being told that Jesus had returned, but that they had missed it and therefore would be left out of God’s grace. I remember waiting at the Baghdad airport for a flight out of the country. It was days before there was a seat available. With every full flight my hopes of every leaving seemed to be coming to fruition. I was sleeping in the open air on a cot next to the runway. As you have heard it is hot in Iraq, and there was no air conditioning. For three days I got almost no sleep, literally no sleep. My mind was not processing clearly and it seemed as though I would never catch a flight. Each flight seemed to be filled before I even had a chance to be put on standby. I was hungry. Of course no showers were available, so use your imagination in 110 degree heat. Miserable doesn’t come close to describing it. As you can tell, I finally did make it out of there. I scrambled to get a flight out of Kuwait, another story for another time. When I stepped off the plane in Germany I got down on all fours and kissed the ground. I was elated to have survived. The Thessalonian believers had their hopes, their lives invested in the Gospel. So Paul’s words of assurance must have sounded exceptionally sweet. When those words were read I can imagine shouts of joy and relief. I can even picture a few women fainting. What a scene. When was the last time you really needed some encouragement? Everything you were hoping and planning for seemed to be slipping away between your fingers. Maybe it happened in a doctor’s office with the results of a test. Maybe it was a letter in the mail saying that you weren’t accepted to that program you wanted. Or perhaps you found something unexpected that sent chills through your relationship with your spouse. All of us, if we live long enough, get these types of unexpected surprises. It is at these times that we need godly encouragement. We need to again grip the reality of eternity. This is just a temporary stopping point in our lives. We will get through this difficulty. Eternity is waiting.
The Arnold Journey 