He Will Strengthen And Protect You From The Evil One

2And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.
3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:2-3 (NIV)

The above passage is on the topic of dealing with the evil plots and schemes from those who seek to harm us. It comes with good news and bad news.

The bad new is there are wicked and evil people around who want to harm us. If you have been living in the real world long enough, you would have realized that you don’t have to purposely offend others to make enemies. There are people who just want to harm you or make things difficult for you for unknown reasons. The person who looks nice, polite and appears to be your best friend can the same person who has been spreading slanders and plots against you.

So, how are we going to defend ourselves against these people? The answer is in the good news in Verse 3.

3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV)

We can rely on the faithfulness of God. Through his faithfulness, he will strengthen and protect us from the evil one. What does that mean? The strengthening and protecting are dependent on God’s faithfulness. Therefore, let us first look at his faithfulness.

The faithfulness of God refers on his integrity in keeping all his promises. This is the core value of God. This is also the part that separates the truth Christian teachings from the lies of theology.

In short, when God promises something, he will do it. Here are some examples:

· When God says we are saved by grace through faith, he means what he says. We don’t have to do anything extra to maintain this promise like going to church, reading the Bible, going for missions, giving money to church etc.

· When God says he will prosper us, he means what he says. Out of context quoting like Jesus has no place to lay his head and the part on camel going through the eye of the needle cannot change that. Neither does the existence of poor believers can cause God to break his promise.

· When God says he will heal us, he means what he says. No matter how the theologians choose to glorify sickness and disease, God still keeps his promise.

Through the faithfulness of God, we have the confidence to face all the trials and tribulations in our lives.

He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

When God strengthens us, it means he gives us the strength to fight the battle. This implies that we have to do the fighting. In other words, we have work to do. Do not, do nothing when you facing difficulties. God has strengthened us. Our role is to use this strength to overcome and triumph over whatever difficulties we are facing right now.

· If you are sick, you have the strength to be healthy.

· If you are poor, you have the strength to be rich.

· If you have failed, you have the strength to be successful.

This is what the strength of God can do for us. Do not be ashamed of it.

Next, the faithfulness of God protects us. This means God will personally ensure that no harm can come to us. We can live our lives in confidence that no matter how bad the situation around us appears to be, we are protected.

God is good.