Friday
Read 2 Corinthians 1
So Paul’s plans were changed. But that doesn’t mean that his word is not trustworthy, it means that he is listening to the voice of God and being obedient to Him.
Paul uses this disagreement between him and the Corinthian church to explain a very important biblical truth. That is that God is always faithful and His promises never change (vs 18-20) “As surely as God is faithful, our word to you does not waver between ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate ‘Yes,’ he always does what he says. For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ (which means ‘Yes’) ascends to God for his glory.” People may fail us, governments may lie to us, churches may falter, but Jesus remains the same; yesterday, today and forever.
Paul shared with them the trouble they experienced in Asia. (vs 8-11) There is no way of knowing for sure what that was, but whatever it was – it left Paul feeling like he could have died. There are some who suggested that his problem may have been some type of persecution or a physical ailment made worse by the work he was doing. When you look over Paul’s life you will see that trouble often followed him. He fought “wild beasts” in Ephesus (1 Corinthians 15:32). He was flogged by a Jewish court, 39 times, because 40 was considered a death sentence. (2 Corinthians 11:24) He was involved in a riot in Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41) and there was mentioned in Acts 20:19 a particular persecution shortly before e left for Troas (also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 16:9). We also know that Paul suffered some sort of ailment and according to scripture this malady never left him. So whatever the problem was, it was bad. “We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.”
Because of this “trouble” Paul was constantly faced with the possibility of his own untimely death. But how does he respond to this “trouble”? By learning to rely completely on God. Knowing that God had rescued him time and again from certain death and completely trusting that God would do it again. Paul put all of his trust, his confidence in the only place that is constant and trustworthy. And that is in Jesus Christ.
When I think about the persecution of the Church and how many people have been willing to face hardships, how many people have been willing to suffer, how many people have willingly died at the hands of the enemy if it helped to promote the cause of Christ; it encourages me to know that I am following the One who is worthy, the One who is not asking me to do anything that He hasn’t faced already. It encourages me to know that I have put my trust in the same God that Paul put his trust in.
Paul thankfully acknowledge that the best thing that we can do for each other, is to pray.“God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety.”
How many of us can say “amen” to that? Knowing that God has brought us through a difficult situation. Whether it was persecution by the enemy, or sickness, or injury, or trials of any kind… we can believe that God will hold to His promises for us.
Grace and Peace
Pastor Kathy