The Thessalonian members of the church had received Paul’s first epistle and evidently were trying to do all that he had counseled them. They were still being persecuted for their beliefs and still had questions about the second coming of the Christ and when it would be. Paul attempted to put this at rest by teaching them that there has to be an apostasy before the second coming and this is the theme of this epistle.
One sentence, a half sentence really, jumps out at me. “And to you who are troubled, rest with us…” There are times when our responsibilities, our trials, whatever combination of burdens it may be, weigh down on us heavily. We are left with no choice but to see it through. The promise is there will come a time of rest, of peace, of release from all that makes life difficult to bear. If we keep that hope, we can endure it. Without that hope, life would seem unbearable. Moroni asked, “How is it that ye can obtain faith, save ye shall have hope?” The two go together, but I think hope leads to faith. We hope it’s true, we hope we’ll be able to endure, and as we hope, our faith increases and the Lord gives us the strength we need. But in the end, there will be peace and rest and the satisfaction that we did what at times seemed absolutely impossible.
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