Good News Makes Us Glad

Worrying can be a great stimulus to praying. Good news, however, leads to thankfulness and greater confidence in prayer. With the news brought by Timothy, Paul’s anxiety is removed and he has evidence that the work in Thessalonica is solidly grounded. Paul’s emotional engagement with their situation flows through into his enjoyment of God himself in prayer. This news does not lessen Paul’s desire to see these believers again, but now it is with a renewed direction of what he can do to help them further in their Christian growth. Accurate information can give content to our general prayers for people distant from us, but, if it is not coupled with emotional engagement like Paul’s, it can lead to shopping-list praying. 

Paul’s prayers for the churches he has planted have many common themes working through them. He is concerned that love should characterize all their dealings with each other and other people. In this he is echoing the command of Jesus to his disciples (John 13:34,35; 15:12). The comment by Tertullian around 200 AD that outsiders noted how much Christians loved each other is an indication of the recognition that love is to characterize Christians and to be a major part of our witness to the world. Can the same be said about us today?

Repeatedly, Paul looks forward to the day when Jesus comes again. He expects to glory in the presence of God because of the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 2:19). He prays that they may be holy and blameless on that day, and he expects to see judgment on those who oppose the message (1 Thess. 2:16). Most Western Christians today don’t have this perspective at the front of their thoughts. But the knowledge that, at the last day, all wrongs will be righted and the wicked punished keeps us focused on Gospel proclamation.

In the midst of injustice and wickedness, how are you resting in the certainty of God’s eternal justice? What difference does it make to you?