I Thessalonians and Personal Growth

This coming Sunday, Pastor Andy is going to kick off our new sermon series through the book of I Thessalonians. I was reading I Thessalonians this morning and I realized I had done a project on the letter while I was a college student. After digging through a couple of files I found my project. The goal of the project was to synthesize the themes in Paul's letter. While so often biblical study is focused on analyzing and breaking down the text into the smallest bits, my professor wanted us to bring it together; to look at the whole thing at once. I had a blast with this project because as much as I love to analyze I need to see the big picture for it to be worth the work. 

But as I looked closer at this project, I started seeing a bunch of things I didn't like. I drew some connections that don't seem that important, and missed some more of the obvious points. I didn't like how I broke down the segments. Why did I stop that section there, when Paul kept on the same theme in the next verse? Did I seriously misspell a three letter word? In a matter of minutes, this prized project became embarrassing. 

Then I noticed the date on the cover page: December 12, 2002. I did this ten years ago?!? I did this project the first semester of my college career! Now I feel old. But, I also get to have grace for myself. While this was a mildly impressive display of biblical literacy when I was 18 (at least my prof thought so), I have changed in the last 10 years. I see things differently now.

Life with Christ is never stagnant. We never learn anything in finality. We are always growing and changing, and so our understanding of God and his Word must always be growing as well. The Bible is living and active (Hebrews 4:12) and so are we! The gospel of Jesus never changes, but because of its infinite dimensions, we should always see it new. 

I pray that I never see the Bible as something I have all figured out, or even any one book as something I've already studied enough. I pray these next 13 weeks through 1 Thessalonians will be a great rediscovery of the unchanging message of the gospel and that it would penetrate our lives in a brand new way. 

Living in Reality

Psalm 4

¹ Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!

You have given me relief when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

² O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?

How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?    Selah

³ But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;

the LORD hears when I call to him.

⁴ Be angry, and do not sin;

ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.   Selah

⁵ Offer right sacrifices,

and put your trust in the LORD.

⁶ There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?

Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”

⁷ You have put more joy in my heart

than they have when their grain and wine abound.

⁸ In peace I will both lie down and sleep;

for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

----------------------

A few weeks ago I stumbled across this verse while playing a little Bible Roulette. I don’t recommend this as a regular reading plan because it can really lead you in the wrong direction, but I didn’t have any ideas of where to read that day so I was just flipping around. 

The Psalms are well known for not mincing any words, and for expressing extreme emotions, but what stuck out to me about this chapter is not the circumstantial context of the words but the process David goes through. He looks honestly at his circumstance, looks at the truth of the Lord, and then responds in light of the truth. 

In verses one and two David cries out to God about his troubles, and to his neighbors about their sin. David looks around and asks, “How long?” In other words, “Will this never end?” It is easy to get caught in that cycle of thinking: look at the messed up world around me (or the messed up me!), yell at God, repeat. But David doesn’t stop there; he looks beyond the trouble to what he knows about God. 

Who The Lord Is

The truth about the world is glaringly obvious to us, but the truth about God is all too often more difficult to find. In the middle of his distress David is able to say in verse three, “The LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call him.” 

How could David say this with such certainty? I think there are two basic reasons. First, David knew the history of God’s faithfulness to his people. He would have grown up being told all about how the Lord had called Abraham out of his homeland, how he had protected Joseph from slavery and made him #2 in all of Egypt, how he had called Moses to service through the burning bush, how he made the Red Sea dry for the Israelites to cross, and then flooded Pharaoh's army in it. He would have known about the manna and how the Lord led them by fire and cloud through the wilderness. He knew about (and had copies of) the Law that was handed down to the Israelites to set them apart for the Lord. 

But knowing about good work of God in other people’s lives does little to change our own. After all, David’s older brothers would have known all the same stories, but they weren’t exactly jumping up to fight Goliath. Which leads me to the second part: David had personally experienced the Lord’s work in his life. When he was just a kid he talked King Saul into letting him fight Goliath by saying, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37 ESV) He had seen the Lord protect him before and he had confidence that He would do it again! 

For us, all of these stories and more are now in our Old Testament. If we don’t know the history of God’s faithfulness, how will we ever trust him ourselves? It would be like handing over your children to a daycare you had zero research on, and no one recommended to you! Having personal experiences with the Lord, however, leads to greater and greater trust in Him. This means we cannot hide in our comfort zone. We need to be willing to be in places that require us to trust God. It means stepping out in faith even when the reality of the situation is grim, because the reality of God is great. 

David responds this way in verses four through eight, with a few instructions and some attitude adjustments. If we really believe that God hears us and will always care for his people, we are freed up to not be angry, to trust the Lord, and to live in joy. Even with his enemies all over the place David entrusts his safety to the Lord so much so that he can lie down and sleep in peace! 

If the Truth is True...

If this doesn’t sound like you, what is missing? If we say we believe the truth about who God is and what He can do, then why should we live any other way than in peace and joy? Either we don’t believe the reality of God, or we are crazy. Reality (i.e. truth) inevitably affects how we live. 

Consider this example: You have a friend who is deaf. You know this about her, so naturally you communicate differently with her than with a hearing friend. Maybe she can read lips, so you’re conscious of facing her when you speak. Or maybe you learn sign language, or you type to each other. Whatever you do, you change your typical habits in light of the reality of her hearing loss. You then see someone walk up to your friend and start speaking to her as if she can hear. The speaker doesn’t get a response and repeats themselves more loudly. What goes through your head at this point? Either 1) they don’t know she’s deaf so they aren’t changing their habits, or 2) they do know she’s deaf and they’re foolish for thinking that they should be able to communicate the same way they always do! 

We naturally conform to reality in every day life, so why is responding to the reality of God so hard? Either we don’t truly know or believe who the Lord is and what He can do, or we are actively choosing to live life contrary to that reality. 

Truth is not just a thing to be studied or argued about, but something that radically changes our lives. In John 8:31-32 Jesus says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” David was not spending sleepless nights wondering what would happen to him. He slept soundly, knowing the Lord was protecting him. Knowing the truth turns us from slavery to freedom! 

So what? 

A couple questions to consider:  

Do you know the Lord? God has revealed himself to us through his Son Jesus (“the Word made flesh”) as recorded in the Bible (“The Word”). God is powerful enough to overcome any circumstance, but he will only do so if you know him. Commit your life to him, and turn from your sin. If you are struggling with trusting God in tough times, spend more time in his Word, and find out who he says he is. He has things to say to each of us in our situations, and wants to be our Redeemer. 

Are you living in reality or in fear? Sometimes we live contrary to the truth we know because even if we say we know it, the scary reality of life is more convincing than the reality of God’s truth. Meditate on John 8:31-32--the truth will set you free! Ask yourself, “What am I afraid of?” and then ask Jesus to redeem that fear and help you live in the truth of his love and power. We need to continually remember that His Word is the ultimate authority on everything, and when our circumstances don’t make sense, he is still true. 

Who will walk with you? The Christian life cannot be lived alone. We need each other to function. Share with at least one person where you need help trusting the Lord and ask them to support you...and support them as well! Your Community Groups are a great place for this. You don’t always need to give all the details, but no one will be shocked if you share that you are not always believing the truth of the gospel and living it consistently at all times in all ways! The nature of life on this earth is one of constant growth in this area. 

Other thoughts? Leave a comment below!