Thanks for all the encouragement regarding yesterday's post - it's good to know that your thoughts are appreciated by others. When I ask for your comments, though, it's because I know your thoughts are every bit as important as mine. God speaks to us in different ways, but always with the same truths. Sometimes one person may have a perspective that, when shared, allows another to see the deeper meaning in a passage - that's a great thing about group Bible study. And during this time that we aren't as able to physically sit together and discuss Scripture, we can utilize the tools of our age and do the next best thing...and I kinda think this is it! :)
I'm getting a later start tonight, and I don't like doing that. My thoughts seem scattered and all of the day's activities are weighing on my mind. Robert had a hard morning, so it seemed the whole day kind of got a little out of whack, timing wise. But now I'm sitting quietly sipping my cup of peppermint tea, with my Bible beside me and knowing that I'm "talking" with friends, and I'm breathing in peace, and calm, and Holy Spirit joy. That Holy Spirit joy that we discussed several days ago that allows us to persevere, and not only to just keep going, but to do it with the inner joy that only God can bring to us. And He brings it saying He loves us, He knows us, He knows just what we're going through right now, and He's right beside us. How can we not smile just a little bit when the Holy Spirit reassures us of all of that?
Remember, 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
2 Corinthians 4:7-11 "Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who live are always given over to death because of Jesus, so that Jesus' life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh."
2 Corinthians 11:30 "If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weaknesses."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 "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."
Where we left off yesterday with the realization that God allows us to suffer at times so we can see that is our only hope, our only rescuer...we pick up today with more affirmations by Paul to us of God's great abilities contrasted against our profound weakness.
We really do live this life in clay jars, earthen vessels, easily broken and not meant to last. These bodies die and decay. I think it's sometimes a wonder that our current average lifespan is close to 80 years when you consider all of the many things that can go wrong in these bodies of ours. Scientists estimate that our bodies contain 30 trillion cells. It seems to me that the possibilities of those cells malfunctioning and going randomly crazy would be pretty high, but yet most of us live a fairly long time in these clay jars of ours. Eventually, though, those cells do wear out, go rogue on us, and we die.
We are not super beings, we are not powerful beings, and yet God deposited His great treasure, the Gospel, the ministry of reconciliation between God and man, within us. Just as Paul reminded Timothy, "Guard, through the Holy Spirit who lives in us, that good thing entrusted to you." 2 Timothy 1:14. We have been entrusted by God with His message - we've been given a great responsibility. But Paul reminds us that God knows exactly how weak we are, and that because of our weakness, God exhibits His power in ensuring that His message is successfully proclaimed. Paul then compares the human response to their sufferings to the God-empowered response:
They were troubled, afflicted, pressed down upon, pressured - and yet they were not crushed, they did not feel constrained or troubled in spirit.
They were perplexed, confused, and didn't know what to do - and yet they were not in despair or without hope, they did not give up.
They were persecuted, harassed, beaten - and yet they never felt forsaken or alone.
They were struck down, humiliated, scorned - and yet they knew they were not destroyed, they knew they were not defeated and they knew God was not through with them.
These men were not superheroes, but God was acting in them supernaturally. Paul wants to make sure we know this. It was all God giving them power that was not theirs. They were using their clay jars to show that their suffering, their very real human suffering, reflected Christ's; but that His life was shining through them in a miraculous display of ability to withstand and keep moving forward.
That's why Paul was so eager to boast about his weakness - his weakness, in light of his great accomplishments for the cause of Christ, showed the power of God to accomplish what He wills to be accomplished. We just have to be willing to allow our clay jar to be used by God - He will supply all the power necessary.
Our cracked (sinful) clay jars are still usable by a God who restores all things for His use. His grace - His all-sufficient grace seals our cracks, and makes us ready to be filled with His message. Then we can take that message wherever He leads us, He will give us whatever we need to face whatever obstacles may come our way. I am weak, but He is strong --- brag about that! Brag about the fact that we are nothing, but He uses us anyway and makes up for all of our nothingness with all of His great everything-ness! It is all God - He does it - we are just the jar carrying the message.
So today's observation is this, from my perspective: Suffering shows us just how weak we are, but how very, very great our God is. Everything we lack, He gives. Everything we aren't, He is. We can live in His power and not crack wide open when the world expects us to, or even when we might expect to! Live in His grace, live in His power --- let us be like Paul and brag about Him!
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