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.