What difficult circumstance did Paul keep in mind about his new converts?
Paul kept uppermost in mind that newly saved converts, having turned from idols to the living God, came under pressure and intense persecution. They did not have an easy role living among idolatrous friends and relatives after leaving a culture totally different from Christianity.
Les explains that Thessalonica was in northern Greece, not far from Philippi, and wherever Paul gained converts this pattern held true: they turned from idols to the living God. Les teaches that whenever people are saved and become believers, especially out of a culture totally different from Christianity, they come under pressure and intense persecution. Paul kept this uppermost in his mind: these new converts did not have an easy role living in the midst of their idolatrous friends and relatives.