Day 194

Apostolic labors in Thessalonica 

Key Verses: 2, 4, 8, 12, 13, 20

Sometimes in life we have to take risks for the sake of Christ. Logic would shout at us, “Don’t do it!” But we must learn that God’s Spirit directs where He will sustain. God will never direct you to risk where His grace has not gone before and prepared the way. Even if the response is not what you expect, God’s grace is there to keep you. He won’t let your eternity slip away when you have risked for Him.

God knows us through and through. He alone knows our motives. Even when we deceive ourselves, God sees through the deception and knows exactly why we are doing what we do. He even knows our motives when we fail at something, but we were doing it for the right reasons. Pure motives don’t always bring success at the mission.

 Often the way we do something reflects on Christ in us just as much as what we do. Paul approached the Thessalonians not from a position of strength, but from a position of service. He didn’t assert his authority, but instead poured out his life for them in service. Sometimes we don’t need to flash our degrees and accomplishments. Sometimes we just need to show how much we care.

Encouraging, comforting and urging are Paul’s tools. These sound like a good set of tools. I am sure we would like to have these tools used in our lives when someone is leading us. This is much better than rebuking, lecturing and chastising. And the goal of this method is a life that is worth Christ’s sacrifice for us. It is living out God’s kingdom here on earth.

What made the difference in the Thessalonian believers’ lives? They took God at His Word. They trusted God to be able to transmit what He wanted to say across the centuries and through broken human beings. Don’t forget, there were confirmations of the message in their lives. They could see the Gospel working. Part of that working was the persecution itself.

Although Paul was only there at Thessalonica for a very short period of time, there was a strong bond formed from Paul to these new believers. They were the fruit of God’s labor through him. Paul did what God called him to do and the Lord showed up and did His work. Nothing can bring greater joy than eternity in the hearts of believers with whom you have labored. Paul experienced that joy. He saw God at work and it confirmed his path again. Even when there was intense persecution, the fruit of his labor made it all worthwhile.