Suffering in the Lap of Luxury

Scripture: Ps. 124; 2 Cor. 11-13

2 Corinthians 11:23-29
I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.

Observations: Paul’s ministry was hard. Mine is not. I should be asking myself why.

Application: Okay, I’m not saying that we should be flogged for our faith, but why aren’t we enduring a little more scorn or heart-ache for the sake of the gospel? And by “we,” I mean me… Yes, I’m on the road teaching and training. Yes, I spend a lot of time preparing sermons and getting ready for the Wednesday night Y.E.S. group. But I’ve rarely been at risk or in danger. For Pete’s sake, I just filled out a hotel survey after my stay in Dickson this past week: “Please rate the quality and comfort of the bedding in your room.” I’ll give you a hint: It was a number below 10 but above 8….

Is suffering all that necessary? Well, one of the assumptions under which I have operated has always been “if it is easy, then you are probably doing it wrong.” Anything worth doing is going to require more than the minimum effort. Time for me to look for harder things to do. Time for me to ask for harder responses from my people. Time for me to stop being afraid of risking more — by asking the folks around me to risk more alongside me.

Prayer: Good morning, God. Paul sure had it rough. Please give me enough umph to put up with the fraction of what he went through that I’m about to face. Thank you, Sir. Amen.