Your Bible & You - Little Book Open.org

YOUR BIBLE AND YOU
Y o u M a y L i v e V i c t o r i o u s l y
est of all missionaries, the apostle Paul. Nothing seemed to discourage him.
After his conversion life was not easy for him. He endured much. “Five
times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one,” he
told the church in Corinth. “Three times I have been beaten with rods; once
I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have
been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from
robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the
city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in
toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often
without food, in cold and exposure” (2 Corinthians 11:24-27, RSV).
All this was enough to make any man depressed. But not Paul.
“For the sake of Christ,” he added, “I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am
strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10, RSV).
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed,” he said; “perplexed, but
not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not
destroyed…. Knowing that He who raised…. Jesus will raise us also with
Jesus and bring us with you into his presence” (2 Corinthians 4:8, 9, 14, RSV).
“So we do not lose heart,” he went on. “Though our outer nature is wasting
away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary
affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things
that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that
are unseen are eternal” (verses 16-18).
What marvelous faith! What incredible courage! Here indeed was the spirit
of a conqueror. Sustained by absolute confidence in God, sure of His love,
leadership, and ultimate deliverance, Paul faced each day’s trials and defeats
as though God had already turned them into victories.
“Wherever I go, thank God,” he wrote, “He makes my life a constant pageant
of triumph in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14, Moffatt).
No doubt he had often seen Roman generals departing on foreign expeditions
at the head of mail-clad legions. And he had seen them return, bringing
the spoils of war to lay at the emperor’s feet.
“My life is like that,” he said. “A constant pageant of triumph. Only I serve not
Caesar but the King of kings.”
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