Hinderances
Scripture Reading: Psalm 100; Jeremiah 6-7; 1 Thessalonians 2-3
We wanted to come to you – even I, Paul, time and again – but Satan hindered us. - 1 Thessalonians 2:18 -
From our perspective, we see Paul as a giant of the faith, the man who built the foundation of the Church among the gentile world and wrote the majority of the New Testament, giving us the theological interpretation of the historical events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. But at the time he lived, he couldn’t have seemed all that significant. Yes, he eventually got the attention of governmental authorities, but if you were living in Thessalonica at the time and he came walking into town, you wouldn’t have turned your head to see him and whispered to your friends like Barack Obama just walked by.
What I’m getting at is those who lived when Paul lived would not have seen him the way we do now. Nero, the Roman Senators, the great philosophers of the day, the great military leaders – these are the men whose names and reputations were known. They would have attracted the attention of their fellow man. But Paul? Not so much.
But who was the devil paying attention to? Paul and the handful of men who accompanied him. Why? Well, reading through the second chapter of Thessalonians, it becomes more apparent why the devil would put so much effort into stopping Paul from doing what he was doing. The whole chapter is a recitation of how Paul and his companions goal was to preach to them the “gospel of God.” And that is what the devil is most concerned to stop.
Yes, the devil works among the nations at the highest levels of power. Yes, he works on a macro level. But even then, his long game is to undermine and thwart the preaching of the gospel of God. The gospel is what saves eternally. The gospel is was delivers men and women from his evil grasp. This is what he fears the most.
So, he does now what he did then…
He obstructs. He puts up roadblocks. He hinders.
Don’t let it discourage you or stop you when it happens. The devil always loses in the end. God wins. God even uses these attempts by Satan for the advancement of the gospel. It may not advance the way we planned or hoped, but it will advance if we stay faithful and keep on doing what we are called and commissioned by God to do.