The key fact which the Thessalonians needed to recall regarding trials was that we, namely, believers in Christ, were destined for them. The Greek word for destined is κείμεθα,
which in this case indicates that a certain circumstance has occurred by God’s decision and appointment.1 The verb is in the passive voice, and the implied agent of the appointing is God;2 the trials were not the result of mere chance or fate. This perspective would have encouraged the Thessalonian Christians with the assurance that their lives were not in the hands of their opponents, fate, or evil powers, but in the hands of God himself.
3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.