Paul, in writing to the churches in Corinth, lays down the most vulnerable, transparent teachings ever. His second letter, likely out of three of them, just gets so real.
In this portion of the letter is one of the most powerfully encouraging truths about life as a believer – even more so as one who is sold out to Jesus. Paul admits, bad stuff happens! “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed” 2 Cor. 4:8-9.
Paul does not ignore present circumstances coming at us all-the-time, yet he always reframes these events as temporary, but inevitable, expected but completely conquerable! God will raise us just as he did Christ, a benefit package for believers. Plus, all this means that God’s grace reaches more and more people! And, God will receive more and more glory (2 Cor. 4:15). In Christ, there is no way to lose!
With all this confident conviction Paul can say, “that’s why we never give up!” I don’t know what the secret “spiritual” mix is, but I wonder if it’s not 10% faith and 90% gritty-grace. I have found that determination, or stubbornness submitted to the Holy Spirit works wonders in helping us have the life that Paul lived. He doesn’t deny the reality of “thlipsis” – high pressured affliction (the word picture is being trapped, constricted in a narrow place). Paul just says, it won’t last long. And, the momentary “light” squeeze produces an excessive amount of what Paul called “weighted glory.”
Is this how and why he can speak to us about our focus? Are we staring too long at the pinch of pressure overlooking the overwhelming power of God’s glory in eternity? Yes, we are still temporally fixated beings, but with faith we can lift our eyes to see what God sees. Future casting is not making so much out of these seasonal, even transient moments of struggle, but looking up and forward to what God is doing and will continue to do in us and through us.
Paul didn’t just theoretically know about these brief blips of being bound, he experienced them. Through the power of the Holy Spirit he gives us this wisdom, his own experienced knowledge to help us when we face our own very real and present troubles. Jesus said it like this, “these things I have told you, in the world you will have tribulation, but take courage because I have overcome the world” John 16:33.
Prayer
Dad,
I cannot say that I like being squeezed or trapped by situations that completely overwhelm me! In fact, more often than not, I freeze in those moments, getting stuck! I feel such a loss of control. Yet, I also admit those times were are far more temporary than I realized. And, I am learning to not resist, react or freeze up as much as I used to. Your wisdom through Paul’s experiences has helped me realize that I too quickly, and far too often, focus on only what I see instead of what you are up to. Thank you for your patience and gritty-grace to get me to lift my eyes and see where my help really comes from.