You don’t mess with my kids! I know that is a strange thing
to say as you look at this Scripture, but it’s true. You can get in my face. I
can take it pretty good. I have been known to turn the other cheek a time or
two. But when you go after my kids, you had better watch out. God gave them to
me to protect and to raise, and heaven forbid you do anything to cause them
harm.
That is the apostle Paul in a nutshell. In his other
letters, he talked about how his spiritual converts were like his children. And
you can almost picture this man of God as the proud parent as he brags on his
kids. Proud that their faith and love are growing. Boasting about their
patience and faith as they endure the hardships of their days. Bragging about
how all of this is evidence of their salvation, because quite frankly, none of
this would be happening if they did not belong to God through faith in Jesus
Christ. But woe unto those who are doing the persecuting!
Look at verses 6-10. Do you see what Paul is saying? God is
going to take care of it all, and that doesn’t mean He is going to gather
everybody up in His arms and sing Kum Bah Ya. He is going to take care of it by
repaying with tribulation those who trouble His people. In other words, He may
do some gathering up but it will be to rain down His wrath on the enemies of
His people and to give rest to those who are being troubled because of their
faith in Jesus. And Paul doesn’t pull any punches here. God will take vengeance
on His enemies with flaming fire and eternal destruction. And it’s all going to
happen when Jesus returns and takes His bride, the true Christians, home.
You see, here is the reason Paul is writing to the
Thessalonicans again. Someone was telling them that Jesus had already returned
and they had missed it. They were saying that their suffering was in vain –
that they might as well go back to the way they were because none of it was
true. And guess what. It was all a lie. Straight from the devil intended to
discourage and defeat the faith of God’s people because that’s what the devil
is always trying to do. So Paul does what any good pastor does – He once again
proclaims to his dear children the truth of what that day is going to be like.
And knowing what it is going to be like, they can stay strong and know that God
still has a plan.
Dear brother and sister in Christ, I don’t know what all of
you are going through, but I know that God is able to take care of you. He will
strengthen you. He will walk with you even through the valley of the shadow of
death. So take hope! Don’t give up! Walk in victory because you are a child of
the King.
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