Do you have hopes and dreams for another person? As I read this verse 5 stood out to me, "That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy out to find out whether you faith was still strong, I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and our work had been useless."
I was reminded of a discussion that happened last night at my cousins' house about tattoos, in which she made a comment about whether how she hoped her children would never get permanent tattoos. When it was brought up that she couldn't control that when they were adults, she said that she hoped she had been a good mother and they wouldn't. Now of course, whether her children ever get permanent tattoos has no reflection of her parenting skills (she is an amazing parent), it certainly reflects the fears that Paul shows for the church at Thessalonica. Paul also feared that the work he had done with the church would be useless when the influences of the world got to them, but to his great joy, when Timothy reports back, he learns that in the face of persecution, the church is going strong and their faith is intact. Taking this back to parenting, I can imagine the joy a parent feels as their children avoid certain life pitfalls, that they always tried to encourage their children to avoid, such as drugs, or driving intoxicated.
Of course what happens when the news isn't so good? We know that at times Paul learned that different groups of believers that he brought up, ran into difficulties and strayed from the path. This of course is the reason for some of his other epistles. The good news is that we now have Paul's instruction to help us when we stray from the path, just as we have this letter of encouragement.
So what phase are you in today? If Jesus wrote you a letter after hearing about how your life is going, would he write you letter of encouragement, such as we have been reading? Or would he write you a letter to give you a course correction? Take a minute and consider this today. What would the theme of Jesus' letter to you be...beside the great love he has for you?
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