Friday, June 18
Press in
Scripture: 2 Kings 21-22, Psalm 71, 2 Thessalonians 1
2 Thessalonians 1:3–4 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
Observation
Paul begins this letter to the Thessalonian Christians by thanking God for them because their faith in Jesus and love for one another was growing greater and greater. And this in the midst of persecutions and pressures!
Rather than trouble squeezing the life out of their faith and love, they were flourishing in the midst of it! Growing through the pain!
Hudson Taylor, the famous 19th century missionary to China, wrote, “It does not matter how great the pressure is. What really matters is where the pressure lies — whether it comes between you and God, or whether it presses you nearer His heart.”
These first century Christians let the pressure press them nearer to God. Their faith and love were growing in the midst of the pressure. May it be true of us!
Application
Maybe we’ve had it too easy. Maybe we’re too pampered. I see so many Western Christians wimp out when the pressure is on. Abandon their faith. Question God. Quit.
The pressure tests our faith (see James 1:2-4). And many of us are failing the test. Here are two changes we should make.
First, we need to teach Christians to expect persecution, pressure, and trouble. It won’t be easy; it will be hard—expect it. Don’t be surprised. We are called to take up a cross and follow Jesus. Press on! Hopefully, this will build some spine before the trouble hits.
Second, we need to help each other press into Jesus when the trouble hits. It is not the time to abandon your faith and your community; it’s time to press into it. Double down; don’t run away. Taylor’s quote is appropriate here. Press in!
Prayer: Lord, let these verses be true of us. Let it be said of us that trouble and pressure made us stronger in You, not strangers to You.