Kept!

Kept!

‭2 Thessalonians 3:3 AMP‬

[3] But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you [setting you on a firm foundation] and will protect and guard you from the evil one.

Wherever you read a BUT, you need to take a look at the words that come before. No matter the situation or circumstances that you face, when God steps in, He changes the story and the ending. Paul was writing to the church in Thessalonica, encouraging the people to keep praying for the work of the ministry. As it was then, so is it now. The devil will raise opposition to the work of God in the lives of men, because he knows the power of the gospel. He knows that if the word of God is sown in the lives of men, it will yield a good harvest, so he will do all he can to prevent men from listening, or responding the right way. Have you responded the right way to the seed of the word of God that is being sown all around you? 

That was the work of the devil in the verse just before today's focus, and it reads: 'and [pray] that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not everyone has the faith'. When there is no faith, there is no limit to the evil that men will do in the name of misguided and misdirected zeal. Men will naturally fight and resist whatever they cannot explain or fit into their level of understanding. In the face of all the opposition and resistance, Paul's request to this church was that they would keep praying that the work of God would press on and abound. You pray like this when you have seen the possibilities that abound. 

You pray like this when you know the God who is able to change hearts and lives, and plant eternity in the hearts of men.

This BUT is the change God alone can birth and sustain. He steps in and changes the story. No matter how shaky the ground looks, when He steps in, He plants you on the solid rock. He is able to preserve and protect all who come to Him. He is faithful to His Word, because it is not in His nature to lie. He knows that the devil will also strive and labour to oppose His work, so He supplies all I need to focus on the assignment. Of course, while He is sending me forth, He is also preserving me from danger. From Paul's life, it has to be laid out that God is able to keep me until I finish the work He has commissioned me to do. The end may not always be 'perfect' by men's standards, but what counts is that God backs me up as I work for Him, and He leads me home with Him at the end. That is a life well spent. Anything else will be a waste. God's time of favour is here.