2 Thessalonians 1:5-12

⁵ All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶ God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ⁷ and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. ⁸ He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power ¹⁰ on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. ¹¹ With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. ¹² We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.^[1]

As we have seen, the Thessalonians were a people known for their faithful endurance of persecution. Their faith in God and the love they have for one another has grown so much that Paul boasts about them to all the other churches. As a result they will be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which they suffer. It is not uncommon to ask, when enduring persecution, whether the faithful endurance was worth it. Paul tells his readers that they will be vindicated when Jesus comes again for He will return in dramatic fashion with fire and warring angels that will execute judgment upon those who have persecuted them.

Paul tells us that vengeance belongs to God and that He is the One who will exact it (Romans 12:19). Such knowledge should gives us hope and confidence as well as relieve us from the burden of feeling we have to respond to the persecution we endure. I know well the temptation to respond to the hostility the body of Christ endures on a daily basis. It seems that the persecution only grows more and more intense, but the response our flesh desires to give belongs not to us but to the Lord. Our response is to ensure that Jesus is glorified in our lives.

Just as the Thessalonians were living in an age of intense persecution so too are we. Our faith is constantly colliding with the dominant culture and it often appears that the culture prevails. Paul commends the Thessalonians for their faithfulness but then lets them know that he is praying for them. We, too, are to be commended for the manner in which we stand faithfully holding to the testimony of Jesus, but we also need to pray so that we do not grow weary. So I pray for all of us that we might continue to stand.

Dear Heavenly Father, You know the difficulties and challenges to our faith we face everyday. You know the places where we are tempted and tried. We need Your power to continue to stand in this hour. We confess the weariness and frustration of having to always defend our faith. Give us hope and courage to remain faithful, and so that Jesus is glorified in us and we in Him. Amen.