This series of “Thoughts for the Day” is inspired by the study series, NOTORIOUS, written by Jeff Lucas. He and Pastor Brent Cunningham discuss 9 different characters from the Bible who we would possibly call rogues, scoundrels or scallywags. Each one however can teach us something of our faith.
THE MOB at THESSALONICA – Paul had escaped from Philippi after an earthquake had broken open the prison he was in and snapped the chains that were holding him. He had also endured torture and beatings, shipwreck, hunger and attack by fellow Jews as well as others.
Life was tough – his life had been much easier before his conversion.
Paul comes to Thessalonica, and life is no better. A mob of “professional protestors” is raised who come in search of Paul, but they cannot find him, so they vent their anger on a man named Jason who had welcomed Paul and Silas into his home. The mob couldn’t find the person they were looking for so contented themselves with picking on someone else.
We do not live in a country where we face such persecution, but there are parts of the world where people are imprisoned simply for following Christ. There are places in the world where people are killed by the mob, for their faith. Their situation might hit the mainstream news but, at best, only briefly.
Here in the UK, we will, hopefully, never face such persecution, however we do, nowadays, often find ourselves in the minority.
We may think that becoming a Christian guarantees us an easier life, but we would be misguided. We will, at times, experience various degrees of suffering in our life, and that is not a sign of a weak faith. What our faith does, is to help us put our trust in a God who lives with us in our suffering, but does not let us be crushed by it.
PRAYER: Merciful Father, help us to stand up against the crowd, when necessary, in order to further your Kingdom. Help us to put our trust in you when faced with opposition. Thank you that you protect us and give us strength to face those difficulties we might face along life’s journey. AMEN