A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.

As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1 Thessalonians 3:11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you,

In our next three verses, we are going to be seeing Paul’s heart for the Thessalonians through a prayer to God for them and himself.

Yes the prayer is specifically focused on the Thessalonians, but he is so desiring to see them, he can’t help but to ask the Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus to steer Paul’s journeys back to them.

It is as if Paul had forgot that God had called him to evangelize the nations, and he was coming back to what might be considered a pastoral, or a discipling action with those who have already committed themselves to the Lord, and by all accounts are doing quite well.

Was it not just a few verses back that Paul had received the good news of their faith and love?

1 Thessalonians 3:6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love..

Yes, Paul mentioned a lack in their faith in a previous verse, but did he not have multitudes of lost he needed to minister to?

1 Thessalonians 3:10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

How is it that this apostle felt he needed to return to those who had already committed to the Lord, and spend his precious time with them? Other’s were waiting!

Let’s remember that the body of believers in Thessalonica were birthed during Paul’s first missionary journey, approximately 49 AD. This letter was written from Corinth, a few months after Paul had left the Thessalonians.

Paul did get to return to his people in Thessalonica, but it wasn’t instantaneous. During his travels, as recorded in Acts 20:1-6, it appears he was in the region of the Thessalonians and most certainly had up to 3 months of time to be with them. Our date for this visit is about AD 55.

He may also have had an opportunity to visit with the Thessalonians after his first prison lock up. We see Paul’s continued intentions during his lock up, to visit the Philippians, and that would place him very close to the Thessalonians.

Philippians 2:24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

His first Roman imprisonment was from 60 to 62 AD, with a 4 year window until his next visit with jail. This four year window is the time he possibly got to visit with the Thessalonians.

In all of this brief timeline, we see that God’s answer to Paul’s request to visit with the Thessalonians was granted, possibly twice. But as I mentioned, it was not instantaneous. Up to six years until he was able to visit the area, and then again, another six years until free from prison.

In our highly connected world, we get anxious if we don’t see (or hear from) a friend or ally over a period of weeks, or in some cases days. The apostle prayed and waited for up to six years to visit with his church.

Sometimes we are impatient with the Lord in our faith, thinking things must happen faster, to get things done quicker. The apostle waited six years for an answer, with many distractions and trials in between. As he prayed to the Lord, he was asking for guidance back to his loved ones, but I imagine he may also have been leaving this request before the Lord, knowing the Lord’s faithfulness, and commitment to the little church in Thessalonica.

Extended wait times for answered prayers are sometimes “saint perfecters” themselves, training us to be patient and trusting, knowing the Lord has His interest in His mission within our lives!

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.