Discipleship Letters 51-52

Discipleship Letter 51                                                Sept. 6, 2009

“For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did again and again—but Satan stopped us” (1 Thess. 2:18). “I have often been hindered from coming to you” (Rom. 15:22).

In the ministry of Paul, he was so often hindered by different things. His traveling plan was altered due to various emerging circumstances. He wanted to go to visit some church members in different locations. Yet, he was blocked. The obstacles that he encountered did not stop him. Rather, they led him to pray—“Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you” (1 Thess. 3:11).

“So we can see how Paul’s prayers were very much a part of his ministry and his travels. Significantly, his prayers focused around frustration, weakness and helplessness, as all true prayer must do. It is out of our helplessness that we pray best, because self-confidence robs our incentive to pray as we should.” [James M. Houston, The Prayer: Deepening Your Friendship with God (Colorado Springs: Victor, 2007), p. 240.]

Paul did again and again. The second again is what we need to model after. We tend to rely on ourselves when we talk about the first again. The second again let us know that we are fragile and weak. Nevertheless, “This precious treasure—this light and power that now shine within us—is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own” (2 Cor. 4:7). 

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Discipleship Letter 52                                                Sept. 13, 2009

“For we speak as messengers who have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He is the one who examines the motives of our hearts” (1 Thess. 2:4).

Paul never changed his message to make it more acceptable to others. Rather, he used different ways to convey The Way. He was entrusted with the Good News. The purpose of his existence was to please God, not people. God put Paul among various people groups—“When I am with the Jews, I become…When I am with the Gentiles, I fit in with them…When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression…” (1 Cor. 9:19-23). He never altered his purpose, to please God, and his motive, to bring them to Christ. No matter where we are at, our purpose is to please God.

God puts us here. It’s in this place where we learn to please God. 

Recently, I meditate upon Hebrews 11. “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth…These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised” (11:13, 39). In this faith chapter, all these biblical figures served the God of promise with the promises of God. By faith, we please the Lord, for “without faith it is impossible to please God” (11:6).