Jump Start # 347
2 Thessalonians 3:1a, 2-3 “Finally, brethren, pray for us…and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
Yesterday in our Jump Start, we look at the first verse of this chapter. Paul asks for prayers from the brethren. He wants prayers that the word of God will spread rapidly. He wanted other prayers. His thought continues. He wants prayers for his safety. His preaching had taken him to many cities and before many people. Not everyone received it well. Paul had been arrested many times and in trouble often for defending Jesus Christ. It is these thoughts that bring us to our verse today.
Paul prayed that he would be rescued. His rescuers would not be a covert military operation that would break him out of prison in the middle of the night. Paul was not asking for that. He wanted brethren to pray to God. It would be God that rescued him. When Paul wrote 2 Timothy, he had already stood before the Roman Emperor once. He said that all deserted me, but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.
Paul states three characteristics of the enemy he faced. They were perverse. They were evil. They did not have faith. What a telling description of these wicked people. Without faith, without conscience, without God governing their lives, these corrupt people were likely to do anything. Paul knew that.
The same spirit of people exists today. They don’t care, especially about others. They can be mean, rude, offensive, and especially make sport of those who have faith. It is difficult to work with such. They will take credit for things they did not do and they will blame the innocent for the wrong they do. They can make life miserable. What is a person to do? Quit? Many finally do. They get to a point where they can’t take it any longer. With this economy, quitting isn’t an option for many people. So everyday you walk into work feeling like you have a target on your back.
What did Paul do? He prayed. He asked others to pray. He prayed that God would rescue him. He may have drawn from some of the Psalms when David was being chased by King Saul. David referred to God as a refuge and a shelter. Paul told the Thessalonians that God will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. “The evil one” is Satan who is working through these wicked people. Notice, Paul did not promise that the abuse would be removed nor stopped. Instead God will strengthen you. It’s like a form of insulation. We like ISOLATION—remove us from the problem. Instead, God shelters us by keeping the evil from reaching within.
This takes faith and trust in God. Seeing what the prophets did. Seeing what our Lord did. These thoughts bring several ideas to our mind. Why are people like this? The answer is because this isn’t Heaven and people are broken and corrupt in heart. They need Jesus. Surrounding yourself with God– His words, your prayers, and His people, can and is a shelter and a refuge for you. The tendency is to get back, and get even. But in doing that we become as they are. Don’t go there. It’s not the place for a disciple of Jesus. Let the Lord handle it. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
God strengthens. God won’t leave you alone. God will help you. Tough times tend to make us tough. They call upon a character and a faith that we didn’t know we had.
Hang in there. You’re not the first to go through things like this. Sometimes the problem is not at work, but in the family. That’s harder. Same steps. Same solutions. Turn to the Lord. Some day all this will end. There will be no evil men in Heaven. Those who do not believe will not make it. The perverse will face God for all the trouble they caused. God will deal with them, not us. Our job is to remain faithful, obedient, and stay busy in the kingdom. Years ago, there was a cop show on TV in which the sergeant would tell the policemen “It’s tough out there.” Yes it is, but as John wrote in his epistles, “Greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world.”
Roger