Failure 1 Thessalonians 2:1 NIV

1 Thessalonians 2:1 NIV You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. 

   Have you ever felt like a failure?  Has anyone ever accused your ministry or something that you attempted to do for the kingdom of God to be a failure?  Let's face it, failure is a part of life and we will all be forced to deal with it.  Paul and his companions had dared to share the gospel while in Thessolanica and now as he ministers in Corinth he receives word that people are claiming that his ministry and his efforts in that city were a failure.

   Some translations translate the word failure a little bit differently because it is a difficult word to translate from the Greek text. If you have a King James Version of the Bible, a New King James, a New American Standard, an English Standard Version of the Bible, they use the word vain. One translation says, "For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain." Another translation says, "You know, brothers and sisters, that our time with you was not wasted." The New English translation says, "For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, about our coming to you. It has not proven to be purposeless."

  The Greek word is kenos, it doesn't just mean wasted, and it doesn't just mean vain, and it doesn't just mean worthless, it means all of the above. It means whatever you put your energy and your effort and your time into turned out to be pointless. It turned out to be ineffective. It turned out to be a waste of time. In other words it turned out to not be worth the effort.

   Paul calls the church to remember that while they were there, the things they did and the things they said and the way they dared to tell them His gospel, made a difference and had an effect on the lives of people all because they dared to share. Because they dared to do that, people's lives had been transformed and a city was in the process of being changed all because Paul and those with him dared to go and tell. They dared to share the gospel. 

   When we dare to tell others the good news we are not promised a 100% success rate.  We are not guaranteed to receive accolades, awards, and the applause of all men.  But we can be certain that the work we do in God's Kingdom is never wasted or pointless.