“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, 17comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.” – 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NASB)
This was the passage displayed in one of the final PowerPoint slides in last Sunday’s service. Wrapping up his message on encouragement, the pastor reminded us that we have the ability to support others because God has already encouraged us. We give what we receive.
Pairs
Staring at the slide, something caught my eye. I read the couplet referring to Jesus and God but didn’t think much of it because the Bible contains many references to the Father and the Son. But then I noticed another pair, the one about loving and giving. I realized that the apostle Paul repeated himself five times in this letter to the Thessalonian Christians. Here’s the list:
- Jesus and God
- Loved and Given
- Comfort and Hope
- Comfort and Strengthen
- Work and Word
With the service not quite over, I sat there and reviewed what I’d jotted down. I had a hunch that these pairs were intentional and significant. But what they meant, I didn’t know.
Have you ever been there? A verse leaps off the page and captures your attention. You believe God’s talking to you, but you’re not sure what He’s saying. You’re on the cusp of an insight but the light hasn’t dawned, at least not yet. It’s a great place to be if it wasn’t frustrating!
Later that day, I shared the list with my friends, confessing that I didn’t know why it was important. That could have been annoying because I like to explain what I’ve learned and in this situation, I couldn’t.
Persecution
I knew that the Thessalonians had endured persecution because of their commitment to Jesus Christ.
“You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” – 1 Thessalonians 1:6
“For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews.” – 1 Thessalonians 2:14
“Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.” – 2 Thessalonians 1:4
So Paul must have intended this Scripture passage to encourage these suffering saints. That made sense to me, but it didn’t answer the question. Why the pairs?
Patience
Rather than granting me immediate understanding, God reminded me to be patient. If I was to discern what the Spirit was communicating through these doubles, it would be on God’s timetable, not mine. And if I never learned, I could accept that.
Complementary Reinforcement
As a result, I was free to receive. And a few days later, during a prayer walk, Jesus encapsulated for the main idea. He called it “complementary reinforcement.”
Each element within a pair accompanies the other in a positive way. They don’t compete, they relate to each other in harmony. Furthermore, one augments the other so that the end result is a full picture that describes the resources available to believers undergoing tests and trials. Here’s what I mean.
Jesus and God
This pair refers to the Father and the Son within the Godhead. It’s great to know that Jesus is with us, but since He suffered on the cross, we might feel that He’s weak and unable to deliver us. But God is with us, too; His power is available. So we lack nothing.
We can reverse this, too. We could temper our knowledge of God’s might by supposing that He’s a million miles away. But Jesus Christ–God in the flesh–is One of us. Jesus identifies with us and relates to us. So we need not fear the Lord’s inability to help us deal with the cost of discipleship.
Loved and Given
These are past tense verbs, so they stress the provisions we have already received. We rejoice in the love of the Lord for us, but we can mistake God’s love for mere feelings. Not with God! He acts on His love; He has given us His best. When we suffer, we’re tempted to believe that God has abandoned us, but this pair reminds us that He has planned in advance to take care of us through Christ.
Comfort and Hope
Suffering hurts! When we’re in pain, we need relief. And the Lord doesn’t overlook us. He attends to our physical distress, mental anguish, spiritual afflictions, and social anxiety. This is good news, but we also yearn for an end. We want assurance that the pain will pass, that the trials will not be interminable. So Jesus speaks words of hope to our souls. Although our present situation may be in turmoil, we have His promise that it will not last.
Comfort and Strengthen
When times get tough, we need the Lord to work in the deepest levels of who we are. That’s why God comforts and strengthens our hearts. Suffering teaches us to depend on nothing other than Him because He alone is reliable. That truth gives solace to our spirits but Jesus doesn’t call us to stay passive. He grants us strength to change what we can and minister to fellow wrestlers.
Work and Word
We serve in two main ways: with our hands and our mouths. We encourage people by speaking God’s Word into their lives and we back it up with effective ministry. We don’t pick and choose; we do both.
“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” – 1 Peter 4:11
“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” – 1 John 3:18 (NLT)
Application
No matter what you’re going through, God has blessings for you through Jesus’ death and resurrection. And He reinforces these gifts, each on building upon its complement that you may receive the fullness of His heavenly resources.
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