Yet I Will Praise You: The Life of Paul
History bears witness to the many men and women who have gone before us in choosing to praise God in spite of the great suffering they endured. We can learn much from their testimonies of faithfulness and perseverance in the midst of grief and pain. In this series, we share about the trials others have endured, and of their commitment to praise God from the valley.
If anyone understands what it is like to walk through suffering, it would be Paul. His life as a believer was anything but easy. In fact, shortly after he became a follower of Christ, the Lord revealed to Ananias (the disciple that was sent to restore Paul’s sight after his conversion) that Paul would suffer much for the sake of Christ (Acts 9:16). In his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul writes an account of his many trials.
“Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was 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 brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”
-2 Corinthians 11:24-28
It would have been easy for Paul to give in to despair, be angry at God, quit his evangelistic ministry, or become bitter. And I don’t think many people would have blamed him. But Paul chose to live with an eternal perspective rather than an earthly one. He knew that no matter how much he suffered, it would not come close to comparing to what he would experience for all of eternity in the Lord’s presence. Rather than focusing on the trials he faced, he set his heart on the hope and healing of heaven. It is only because of this that he was able to consider his suffering as “light and momentary.”
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as 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.”
-2 Corinthians 4:16-18
When you read through this list of Paul’s beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, dangers, and hardships, it’s easy to feel sorry for him. He truly suffered so much for the sake of the gospel. But that was not Paul’s purpose in sharing these trials. He was not looking for our pity. Instead, he wished to point to the greatness of the Lord that was magnified because of his many sorrows and difficulties.
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
-Philippians 3:7-8
It may seem as though Paul was indifferent or unfeeling toward suffering. But as he writes about the “thorn in his flesh” we see that this was not the case.
“A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.” -2 Corinthians 12:7, 8
While we are not given many details about this particular trial, Paul does say that he was tormented by it. And three times he cried out to the Lord, pleading for the suffering to end. How many times have you cried out to the Lord in your suffering, pleading for the pain to go away? How many times have you longed for the trials you are facing to end? The Lord answered Paul’s cries, but not in the way he desired. Rather than ending Paul’s suffering, He gave him purpose within it. And the answer Paul received has eternal merit for us in the depth of our own suffering.
“But [the Lord] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
-2 Corinthians 12:9a
The greatest need that you and I have in the midst of weakness and suffering is not instant reprieve, but assurance that what we are experiencing is part of the greatest purpose of God—the glorification of His Son—the exaltation of the grace and power of Christ, the same grace and power that brought Him to the cross and kept Him there until the redemption of the world was accomplished. That is the beauty of our weakness.
God’s design is for you to exhibit the glory of Jesus. This does not always happen by our trials being removed, but by being given the strength to endure them. Will you choose, like Paul, to rejoice and find contentment in your weaknesses and difficulties?
“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
-2 Corinthians 12:9, 10
Dear one, let us trust God. We can be confident that He knows what is best for our good and His glory. God will certainly work in and through the strengths He has given you. But often, it is through our weaknesses that His strength can be most clearly displayed. When we choose to praise God no matter what we are going through, we are providing a powerful testimony to the world of the greatness of our God.
This post originally appeared on the blog on December 26, 2015.
- Ashlee
Hope Mom to Simeon and Odelle
Ashlee is the Editorial Coordinator for Hope Mommies and author of I AM (Hope Mommies, 2017) and Identity (Hope Mommies, 2018). She and her husband, Jesse, live in Milwaukee with their children—five on earth and two in heaven.
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