by Pastor Rich Carlson

Paul gets pretty hard-nosed in this chapter. "Don’t’ be lazy, work hard, he says. If you don’t work you should not eat…"

Paul then went on to say that, though he deserved to get paid for what he was doing, he took nothing, but worked a "second job" making tents, so no one would think he was taking advantage of his position. But that is the middle of the chapter.

In the first part of the chapter, Paul asks for the prayers of the believers. My ears perked up at this since I still wrestle with how and what to pray for sometimes. So what did Paul ask them to pray for? 

• that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly,
• that His world will be honored, and
• that he will be saved from wicked and evil people

It sounds like he was praying for himself, and for the believers in Thessalonica, because the next worlds he penned were directed to them: 

• The Lord is faithful
• He will make you strong, 
• He will guard you from the evil one. 

 He started asking for himself and ended offering it to them. Isn’t that just like Paul, always thinking of others! He then offers three admonitions:

• Keep practicing the things we taught you.
• Keep searching for a deeper understanding of the love of God, and the endurance that comes from Him.
• Never tire of doing good.

And in closing Paul writes: "no matter what happens, may the Lord give you peace."

That sounds like a good deal to me. Peace in this troubled world may never come naturally, because the world generally does not understand how to find peace. But I can, and you can. So what do you say—let’s keep practicing, keep searching, keep doing good, and peace will be ours.

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. “God Is Faithful” is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.