Week Two - Observation 1

This week we're going to take a broad look at the life of Paul and how his life portrayed one of suffering, but also of victory.  We're going to see how God really did use all things for good, even when they looked very, very bad.  Paul is an example to us of how we can live through very difficult times and keep our zeal, our joy, and our focus on God's purposes, no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Our question this week is going to be:  What is the purpose(s) of suffering in a believer's life and in what different ways can we suffer?

And our verse to memorize this week will be one that we probably already have a jump start on, but one that needs to be secure!  "But He said to me,  'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'  Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me."  2 Corinthians 12:9

OBSERVATION

Acts 9:15-16 "But the Lord said to him, 'Go! For this man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before Gentiles, kings, and the sons of Israel.  I will certainly show him how much he must suffer for My name!'"

Acts 13:44-45, 49-50  "The following Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the message of the Lord.  But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to oppose what Paul was saying by insulting him."

"So the message of the Lord spread through the whole region.  But the Jews incited the religious women of high standing and the leading men of the city.  They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district."
                                                
Few of us get such a clear directive of the purpose of our life as Paul did.  God clearly chose him to be a bearer of the good news of the Gospel to the Gentiles, to nobility and also to the Jews.  Paul, without a doubt, knew what he was destined to do once God got a hold of him in Damascus.

                                                    

                                                  

But God showed Paul something else right up front as well...He showed him the great amount of suffering that lied ahead of him.  Why do you think God showed him this up front?  Wouldn't that deter a lot of us from going forward?  I think that's exactly why God showed him - fair warning - you know what you're getting into here, are you really in?  Suffering can be a winnowing tool, can't it?

Paul  did know what he would go through for the sake of Christ, and he chose God's path and never looked back.  Would you or I do the same?  If God showed us that we would undergo beatings, stonings and finally decapitation, would we choose to keep speaking the Good News, never stopping no matter how many times imprisoned? 

Paul knew his Lord, he knew his purpose, and he knew where his true home was....I think that's what kept him going.

And Paul preached - and he gathered great crowds!  And he gathered opposition.

Paul preached - and the message spread throughout the whole area!  And enemies spread too.

Jesus told us we would be hated just as He was.  We are wrong to anticipate that when we speak of Jesus, everyone will open their hearts and receive our words with joy!  That is what we pray for, but that is not always going to happen.  Don't expect everyone to receive the Word gladly - expect opposition.  Expect to be put down and ridiculed.  Expect hard times.  Name one apostle that didn't encounter opposition over and over until they died.  

Now I'm not saying that we are living lives equivalent in importance to the Apostles...or could it be?  Could it be that we are being called to PROCLAIM Christ to a dying world as this dying world comes to its end?  What more important time could we have been appointed to?  I think it's time to preach - it's time to be Pauls and Peters and James and Johns to this 2020 world!  It's time to look suffering in its face and set our faces toward heaven and tell God, "Yes!" just as Paul did.  How we do that is going to look different for each of us, but let's pray to God for His direction in our lives so that we can bring Him glory!

My observations today:

1.  Knowing and being dedicated to our God-given purpose can diminish the threat of suffering.

2.  Suffering, or even the threat of suffering, can filter out those who are not truly dedicated to God's purpose in their life.

3.  Expect opposition - expect ridicule - expect rejection.

4.  Pray for God to show us His direction for our lives in this critical time of the world clock!