We started the series with Paul bragging about the Thessalonians in his first letter to them. The story is the same in the second letter: Paul is still proud of the "keeping-going", "hanging-in-there" and "sticking-to-it" nature of their Christianity.
What seems to be the key of their perseverance? Paul seems to be indicating that their perseverance is the result of two daily routines that have been established in their lives. These routines fertilize perseverance.
The first of these daily routines is faith. Faith is like a muscle: use it and it toughens up, neglect it and it atrophies. The daily exercise of faith can comprise lots of little activities:
-choosing to pray even when it feels like my prayers bounce of the ceiling
-choosing to place a matter that's out of my control in God's hands instead of stressing out about it.
-choosing to believe in the goodness of God even when my circumstances are tough
-choosing to talk about God even when others scoff
The second daily routine is love for others. When God's love lives in our hearts it is natural for this to overflow to others. And, when we love others, our love for God grows: it is an upward spiral. By increasing their love for others they were staying close to God's heartbeat.
When trouble comes, it is our nature to withdraw and become cynical. The Thessalonians chose a different path: with acts of faith they nullified cynicism and by engaging with each other they grew in love for each other and God.
Are you fertilizing your perseverance and endurance? Because if you do, God will give you another gift that Paul only implies in this passage, but makes clear in others: The gift of hope.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
