Trusting God to work

You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure. You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition. So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery. For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. 1 Thessalonians 2:1-4 NLT

The believers in Thessalonica are enthusiastic in the prospect that Christ will return. But Paul reminded them that their enthusiasm should not wane but should be fervent. Paul commended them for their eager anticipation of the Lord’s coming. “And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). In view of Christ’s coming, the concern now is on how they will be living their lives. Not only that believers are called upon to live holy lives as they look forward to the Day of the Lord but also they are expected to declare God’s word to others. They knew how Paul endured to bring to them the Good News of salvation. They are grateful that because of Paul’s unselfishness to devote his time sharing God’s word to others, they experienced the regenerating power of God as soon as they opened up their lives to Him. Paul and Silas endured tremendous suffering while sharing the gospel in Philippi and this experience did not deter them to continue on traveling to Thessalonica. This is also what we should manifest today; a forthright courage telling others about the message of salvation. We should not be shaken even when our efforts are hindered by oppositions. We should remain strong through the grace of God at work within us. Paul, together with other believers remained faithful “in spite of great opposition.” It is God’s word that we share, for we are God’s servants, relying upon God’s strength, and trust in God’s conviction. While we wait for Christ’s return, we need to look for opportunities to tell others about the love of God. God entrusted to us the true gospel’s message, so let us proceed speaking about this message without “any deceit or impure motives or trickery.” People’s response to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior did not happen because of our clever arguments or subtle presentation but through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. “For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true” (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

Blessings,