Slings and arrows
1 Thessalonians 2.13-20
You suffered from your own people.
Prepare
When you share stories or testimonies of God at work in your life, are they usually about God’s provision, or healing, or gifts? In other words, are they always positive?
Read
Explore
Paul can’t shut up about God and Jesus! Although he often talks about ‘my (or our) gospel’ (eg 1.5), ultimately, he knows it is God’s message (v 13; see also 1.8; 2.2). It has a power and a life of its own, working within the lives of those who believe (v 13). In the Thessalonians it formed a family likeness as they imitated people they’d never met (v 14).
But what did that imitation look like? Read verse 14.
Paul was open about the suffering he and they were facing. But too often Christians hide our personal hardships and struggles, making it harder for others to be open and honest with us about theirs.
At this point in Paul’s life his troubles were almost entirely caused by Jews (eg Acts 17:13). He was hurt and angry at being rejected by his own people. His language condemning them sounds like the Old Testament prophets. But more than that, he was angry at those who forced him to abandon an infant church, which was now suffering and in grave danger.
Respond
Are you willing to imitate the early churches in Judea and Thessalonica in their suffering (v 14)? How can you be more honest – with yourself and with others – about your struggles, so together you can draw on God’s strength to persevere?