Part of my Scripture reading today covered 2 Corinthians 1 and verses 8-11 really stood out to me. I wanted to share with you my thoughts on this passage and would love to hear what you have gleaned from this part of Scripture that is full of wisdom.
2 Corinthians 1:8-11 NIV
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
While Paul and his companions were in Asia they underwent
trauma that was outside of their ability to withstand. Father had the squeeze on
them so much that they were afraid they were at the point of death. I
wonder what that looked like. What did they go through that made them believe they
were going to die? And, what did they do when they chose
I have been in some pretty intense spiritual warfare where I
feel like I am about to die. It is when I come to the end of self and cry out
to God, seeking Him and His will that the intensity is lessen, self is broken
and I learn and grow in Him trusting that His Word is Truth and He will do as
He says if I obey Him. If Father never sent trials into my life I know that I
wouldn’t grow in Him. Who needs God when you have everything you want? It is
during these tough times when our world is rocked that we look for Him or to Him.
Paul mentions in verse 11 that it is the prayers of those
covering him and his companions that helped them get through the trials. If you
are in a trial be it financial, marital, physical or spiritual you need to be
covered in prayer. Prayer works! This is a very precious tool that we are given
and it is so easy to do. I encourage you to seek prayer covering and often.
Don’t be ashamed to ask for someone to pray for you or to offer to pray for
someone.
Our Father will send tough, hard times into our lives. Like
Paul mentioned these are not to harm us but to help us grow in Him.
Blessings in Christ,
Hi child of God,
ReplyDeletethat is so right, we must not fear the fiery trials. If God has brought us into them, then they are to strengthen.
God bless.
Hi Brenda,
DeleteThanks for your input. :)
Blessings,
<><
Hi Child of God, thanks for a very good read.
DeleteHi Dominique,
DeleteThank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. :)
Blessings,
<><
This is very timely for me. The inference is that being a Christian means you have a charmed life, and of course Paul promises the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace and many other good things. But I have been thinking about all this recently and have come to understand that the only real way people draw closer to God is almost always through suffering. Self satisfied, wealthy people with perfect lives may have no real need for God at all, even if they go to church, but people who cannot seek solace anywhere else but God will lean on Him as if their lives depend on it.
ReplyDeleteMy trials and troubles are many; financial, emotional, physical and spiritual and at the moment I am suffering stress as well. All I can do is pray and have faith. I am in the pits of despair. On some British canals, they had to build tunnels through solid rock and they can go on for miles; it is pitch black until there is a pinpoint of light at the end. You have no choice but to keep going forward whilst keeping your eyes on the light. There's no point going back. SO we move forward to the light no matter how much darkness surrounds us and engulfs us.
Hi Tim,
DeleteI totally believe that the calm, serene Christian life is nothing but a lie from Satan. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Christian will have a peaceful life but many times we read that there will be strife, pain, suffering and persecution. We are told to leave our old ways behind, take up our cross and walk in the way Jesus did. How did Jesus walk? He spoke the Truth about God, told the religious leaders they were hypocrites and loved the unlovable. Walking with Jesus means we are at odds with the world and we are guaranteed to have spiritual attacks that come in the form of depression, financial curses, strife in the family and so on.
I am also a firm believer on the fact that Satan will fight and struggle to gain a person into his kingdom or to destroy the plan God has for your life. If God has a mighty evangelical ministry in mind for your life then Satan will throw so many things at you to knock you off of the path that God wants you on. From what I am noticing in my walk with God is that sometimes God is able to work in a bigger way when we are persecuted, be it physical or spiritual. When the disciples were fleeing for their lives when the intense persecution came just after the disciples had time to group and plan, we can see from Scripture that was God’s plan in order to get them moving on towards spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of them died for their lives so those who were able to flee, left for far off places. Do you think they would have left their cozy hometown otherwise? Probably not. God knew what He was doing even though all the disciples saw was blood, death and persecution. Now, I am not saying this is your case. But, God works wonders through our sufferings IF we keep Him the focus and center of our lives.
The fruit of the Spirit, joy, peace, love and so on only come to us when we practice these in all circumstances. We are filled with the Spirit when we choose to follow God even in the worst conditions. This agreement is not one that we follow only when the times are good but also when despair, turmoil and death are upon us. Paul had great joy while he was in prison. Why? Because he had his eyes on the end result of his ministry; the furthering of the Gospel and because of his obedience to the work the Lord placed before him the Holy Spirit filled him with joy. Like a person who never exercises their muscles are soft and mushy. They cannot expect to be firm and sleek if they only train their muscles for a short period of time, they need to be in a constant habit of working their muscles to gain the results wanted. We too cannot expect to be filled with the Spirit and have the fruits if we are not in a habit of working on being joyful in suffering. This is a choice.
Sorry for the book. Keep walking towards Him with your eyes focused on the light and learn to dance in joy in the dark tunnel and I will be praying Father will shine His light on you and fill you with peace.
Blessings,
<><
I use to fear trials. Not anymore. We've walked through many fires the last few years and God has used them to draw us closer to Him, to learn to trust Him more. Thanks for sharing this great post my friend!
ReplyDeleteHi Barbie,
DeleteThanks for sharing that. It is wonderful to hear stories of how Father is drawing us closer to Him and how we respond to Him in seeking His face.
Blessings sister,
<><
Hallelujah thank you for the encouragement.
ReplyDeleteHi JBR,
DeleteYou are welcome dear one! :)
Blessings,
<><
Our Father marches us thorough the Valley of the Shadow of Death. He could march us around it, and prepare a table in privacy, but He does it in the presence of our enemies so that His sovereignty will be shown to the world. He is honored when we revere Him... not fear the world. Excellent post and encouragement.
ReplyDeleteHi Floyd,
DeleteWe are here to glorify Him. Our glorifying and worshiping Him while we are suffering is the best way to show others that yes indeed there is a God and He is wonderful.
Blessings brother and thank you for the compliment.
<><