1 Thessalonians 3:1-5: a reflection

1Therefore when we couldn’t stand it any longer, we thought it good to be left behind at Athens alone, 2and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the Good News of Christ, to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith, 3that no one would be moved by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this task. 4For most certainly, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we are to suffer affliction, even as it happened, and you know. 5For this cause I also, when I couldn’t stand it any longer, sent that I might know your faith, for fear that by any means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would have been in vain.

Concerned for the young Thessalonian believers under pressure, Paul sends Timothy to strengthen and encourage them in their faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these afflictions. And he reminds them of something he had told them plainly beforehand: that we are appointed to this, that suffering is part of the Christian calling. When we were with you, he says, we told you beforehand that we are to suffer affliction, just as it has happened. The trials were not a sign that something had gone wrong; they had been told to expect them.

Notice two things Paul does. First, he does not treat their afflictions as a surprise or a sign of failure; suffering, he had told them, is appointed, something Christians should expect, not evidence that God has abandoned them. And second, he takes pains to strengthen them in it, sending Timothy to establish and encourage them so that the trials would not shake them loose from their faith.

Both are worth taking to heart. When affliction comes, we are prone to think something has gone wrong, that suffering means God is displeased or absent. Paul says the opposite: we are appointed to this; trials are a normal part of following Christ, foretold, not a sign of abandonment. And we are meant to strengthen one another through them, as Paul sent Timothy. When you suffer, do not be unsettled as though something strange were happening; you were told to expect it. And do not suffer alone, nor leave others to. Strengthen one another in affliction, as Paul labored to strengthen the Thessalonians, so that trials do not shake any of us loose from our faith.

Lord, Paul reminded the Thessalonians that they were appointed to suffering, that he had told them beforehand to expect affliction, and he sent Timothy to strengthen them so the trials would not shake them. When affliction comes to me, keep me from thinking something has gone wrong, that suffering means you are displeased or absent. Help me remember that trials are a normal part of following you, foretold, not a sign of abandonment. And help me not to suffer alone, nor to leave others alone in their trials, but to strengthen one another as Paul strengthened the Thessalonians. Hold me steady in affliction, and use me to steady others, so that no trial shakes us loose from you.