Next Steps Devo – Jan. 31
2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 20; 4:15; 10:17-18
Today’s passages are certainly much brighter than where we left off on Monday. Before we get overly celebratory, let me provide a bit of background. Paul, our devout follower of Christ, at the time of penning this letter, has already been jailed repeatedly, shipwrecked, beaten, and left for dead in the past few years of his life. Not bad enough? On his first trip to visit the church we are reading about, the church openly rebelled against him and ran him out of town in humiliation. No big deal? He is also less than ten years away from being martyred in Rome. This is a strange life resume to pen words of gratitude and celebration like the ones we read in today’s passages.
Let’s take down the walls of “personal holiness” we have thrown up and ask the question that demands answering: How does this man, with all these life experiences, write words of such thanksgiving? Maybe you are in a better spot than me, but I am calling to heaven and asking to speak to the manager. At a minimum, I am sitting in the corner of the playroom, pouty-lipped and all, exclaiming, “This is not fair!”
Another step into Paul’s life journey reveals that persecutors have come to the Lord. Those who guarded his cells have found hope in Jesus. Paul’s life was a testimony that in unimaginable pain, there is a hope that anchors us to an eternal promise. That hope, and that promise, are found in Jesus. Whether we are persecuted or sailing the Bahamas (sign me up for this option), Christ is enough.
Could you have responded to affliction like Paul experienced in the same way he did? What role do you think God’s faithfulness plays when it comes to holding on to hope during tough times? What do you do when you need to remember God’s faithfulness?
A Prayer to Pray: Jesus, you are good. That statement is true regardless of my circumstances. Create a heart in me that remembers and rejoices in who you are even when everything around me seems to pull me away. God, allow my suffering to lead people to hope in you. Strengthen me to be ever-ready to testify to your goodness.