February 8, 2022

II Corinthians 4: 8, 9 (NIV)

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

A Christian never loses anything by suffering and affliction.*

Being a Christian is not always easy. In some parts of the world it is a daily walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. In these verses, Paul shares some of the inward and outward afflictions that he and his fellow ministers were enduring. It is characteristic of Paul that he would choose to look at the bright side of his challenges. These are bad things, he says, but not the worst things.

Paul’s life was hard – not just because of circumstances beyond his control but because of his faith. It was the life he chose. If you are a Christian, you have chosen a perilous path. Some of us make it to the end of the trail with a minimum of actual danger and, to us, Paul’s words are mere theory, not real life experience. Perhaps those of us who have never suffered for our faith are missing out on the blessed secret that Paul knew. He knew "the power and victory of Jesus in his life because he was continually in situations where only the power and victory of Jesus could meet his need!”*

Isn't that what we should know, too?

Faith faces the brutal facts, but it never gives up hope.*