More, so much more than one can bear...

2Corinthians 1:8-11

Today's session of To Live Is Christ was powerful and spoke to the times we know hardship that is far beyond our ability to endure....the times our response to the "how are you?" is..."I'm hanging on...just hanging on...".

Beth started off with a story when her daughter fell through a missing plank on a wooden bridge and grabbed on to the plank and hung on while someone stepped on her fingers unaware. Terrified, she never let go but kept on hanging on until her Dad noticed and grabbed her up.

Yes, as Christians, that does happen. We are so used to quoting 1Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear..." But Beth pointed out that 'temptation' is not equal to the 'hardship' spoke of by Paul in 2Corinthians 8: the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death...

Strange, I never associated Paul with despair. He was like that battery that kept on going, fulfilling its purpose without flinching. But Beth pointed out that apart from Christ, Paul probably went through more hardship than any of the NT believers. He had to experience the heights and depths in order to minister effectively.
We may find that the greatest hardships can arrive when we are being used most powerfully. (Acts 19:8-12, 17-20; 1Corinthians 15:30-32)

Satan cannot squelch the power of God, so he tries to disable the believer with hardship (to be compressed on every side) and great pressure (to be oppressed).

Like Paul, even the most devoted believers can experience hardships far beyond their ability to endure.
(I know a couple of them right now and this post is dedicated to them.)**

Believers can experience despair (to be wholly without resource).

Believers can experience feelings of doom (sentence of death).

Why? God wants us to rely (be convinced) on Him.

When our hardships surpass our enduring ability, God invites us to partake of His:

-Surpassing power (achieving power). (2Cor. 4:7)

-Surpassing glory (glory means to recognize Christ in us). (2Cor. 4:17)

-Surpassing comfort. (2Cor. 1:3-5)

When God delivers us as He says in 2Cor. 1:10: He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, He is speaking of a 'rescue' that translates to drawing to Himself. While we may want out, He wants us in, drawn to Him.

1John 4:16 says... And so we know and rely on the love God has for us...He wants us to be convinced that the only reason we got through was because He was there because of His love.

**Today I know some people who surpass most of us in how Jesus is recognizable in them, how God's glory shines in and through them. They have been allowed hardships that far surpass our abilities to endure.

My prayer for them is that they would know God's surpassing power, glory, comfort and delivery right now.

Will you all join me in praying for those whose bodies are being wracked by cancer and the painful effects of treatment?

Will you join me in praying for those whose prodigal children have wracked up destruction in their lives?

Will you join me in praying for those who have lost everything, home, money, dreams?

Will you join me in praying for those whose spouses have just walked out on them?

Will you join me in praying for those who know the emptiness of losing a child a spouse, a parent?

Thank you.