I need goals and deadlines. Whether it’s a work project, exercise habits, or writing these devotions, I do my best when I have a goal that stretches me and a plan to get there. That’s one reason I love the new year, with its emphasis on new goals.
Yet psychologists report that in order for someone to reach a goal, it has to be explicit, achievable, and, best of all, be taken on with others. If the goal is simply to lose weight, you’ll forget about it soon; if it’s to lose one hundred pounds, you’ll probably give up; but if you and your running partner set out to add one mile each week to your route, you’re likely to succeed.
Paul offers explicit instructions to the Thessalonians about how to practice their faith, and he spells out essential disciplines to cultivate: prayer, discernment, thanksgiving, and listening both to the Spirit and to prophets.
I’m grateful for these tangible instructions for growth. But the best part comes in the final lines of this passage. It is not our efforts alone that will achieve our sanctification, Paul reminds us. God works with us and ultimately will accomplish this work in us. Throughout our moments of strength and of greatest weakness, God remains faithful to God’s promises.
We are called to work, to pray, and to join the movement of the Spirit. We attend to the needs of the world and our own souls. But in the end, our confidence lies not in our own abilities but in God’s. And for that, we rejoice always.