Monday, July 9,
2018
Again I say,
don’t think that I am a fool to talk like this. But even if you do, listen to me, as you would
to a foolish person, while I also boast a little. Such boasting is not from the Lord, but I am acting
like a fool. And
since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too. After all, you think you
are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools! You put up with it when someone enslaves you, takes
everything you have, takes advantage of you, takes control of everything, and
slaps you in the face. I’m ashamed to say that we’ve been too “weak” to do
that! But whatever they dare to boast
about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of
Christ? I know I sound like a madman,
but I have served him far more! I have
worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without
number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me
thirty-nine lashes. Three
times I was beaten with rods. Once I was
stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at
sea. I have
traveled on many long journeys. I have
faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the
Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I
have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to
be believers but are not. I
have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often
gone without food. I have shivered in
the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. Then, besides all this, I have the daily
burden of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with
anger? If I must boast, I would rather
boast about the things that show how weak I am. God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of
eternal praise, knows I am not lying. When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas
kept guards at the city gates to catch me. I had to be lowered in a basket
through a window in the city wall to escape from him. 2 Corinthians 11:16-33(NLT)
Paul did not lead a boring
life! Shipwrecked, beaten, stoned,
flogged, journeys, adrift, robbers, rebellions, cold, hungry, and sleepless
nights. On top of it all sometimes he
had to slink out of town at night like a criminal because the authorities
wanted him dead. So, this is the bland,
boring life of a missionary?
Paul did not think the
suffering he did was exceptional, or too much, for the privilege he had of
sharing the Gospel. And the apostle also
would not have even thought it right to list all that hardship if it wasn’t
necessary to help put the Gospel in better perspective for the Corinthian
church folk who were being led astray by some false prophets. He needed to help them see the miraculous care
God had taken to bring them the Gospel through Paul’s efforts, and God’s
guiding hand. And, to boot, how does the
suffering Paul went through compare to Christ’s agony of taking on the sins of
the whole world on Calvary’s cross?
It is natural (is it not?) when
you’ve had a long life, or career, to look back over the time and gain
perspective on where you’ve been. You
note the high points, valleys, and the difficult struggles, along with
grace-filled times you were carried along.
I have been doing a lot of that lately, ever since my 70th
birthday. Crossing the border of threescore-and-ten
carries a Biblical proportionate significance; God called that our average
lifespan, and one must wonder how much longer you’ll beat the odds. At the least, with much more time in your
past than can be expected in your future, you begin to evaluate the course you’ve
run.
Mostly, I think, we remember
Paul for his resilience, the apostle, beaten, bruised, bloodied, but never
bowing-out. Paul survived because, as I
heard another preacher[2]
say recently, God will never be done with the servant who is in the will of God,
until, by the loving will of God it is time for that servant of God to go home
to the loving arms of God.
Paul was not a boaster; his
message here is perspective: we come
through (as John Newton wrote) many dangers, toils, and snares[3]…but
it is grace that will see us home.
For You Today
If your life gets as exciting as
Paul’s, remember God’s not done with you.
Life may get easier, or it may get tougher, but one day, it’s going to
get completely right!
Go to VIDEO
[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com
[2] Dr. David Jeremiah on a May
2018 broadcast of Turning Point
[3] Amazing Grace, v.3
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