When Pressures Come
Sometimes life seems full of pressures. At times they seem so heavy we feel they will weigh us down. The Apostle Paul felt that way sometimes. I was greatly encouraged as I read II Corinthians 2:8-10, a passage in which Paul tells how he and those who traveled with him had many pressures. These pressures were so heavy they took away their strength and caused them to despair even of life. But even in times of weariness and despair, Paul and those who were with him had hope. How did they have hope? What was their hope? Let us take a look at these verses.
(My notes in brackets; Scripture quotations in italics.)
“8For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that
We were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
9But
We had the sentence of death in ourselves,
[We were prepared to die]
That we should not trust in ourselves,
But
[That we should trust] in God
[Why?]
Which raiseth the dead:
[Because He is our hope, even if we die]
10Who delivered us from so great a death,
[He was our Deliverer in the past and redeemed us from an eternal death]
And doth deliver:
[He is our Deliverer now]
In whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
[He will be our Deliverer in the future]
Pressures will come, and we must prepare our hearts for them. Perhaps pressures are already here. Perhaps they are so heavy they take away our strength and we feel as if we are ready to die. We must prepare our hearts so that we are ready to die. One way we can do this is to take hold of the hope that, even if we die, God is the God who can raise the dead. He delivered us from eternal death when we were saved, and He will deliver us when our time of physical death comes and take us into His presence where we will live with Him forever.
Sometimes life seems full of pressures. At times they seem so heavy we feel they will weigh us down. The Apostle Paul felt that way sometimes. I was greatly encouraged as I read II Corinthians 2:8-10, a passage in which Paul tells how he and those who traveled with him had many pressures. These pressures were so heavy they took away their strength and caused them to despair even of life. But even in times of weariness and despair, Paul and those who were with him had hope. How did they have hope? What was their hope? Let us take a look at these verses.
(My notes in brackets; Scripture quotations in italics.)
“8For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that
We were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
9But
We had the sentence of death in ourselves,
[We were prepared to die]
That we should not trust in ourselves,
But
[That we should trust] in God
[Why?]
Which raiseth the dead:
[Because He is our hope, even if we die]
10Who delivered us from so great a death,
[He was our Deliverer in the past and redeemed us from an eternal death]
And doth deliver:
[He is our Deliverer now]
In whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
[He will be our Deliverer in the future]
Pressures will come, and we must prepare our hearts for them. Perhaps pressures are already here. Perhaps they are so heavy they take away our strength and we feel as if we are ready to die. We must prepare our hearts so that we are ready to die. One way we can do this is to take hold of the hope that, even if we die, God is the God who can raise the dead. He delivered us from eternal death when we were saved, and He will deliver us when our time of physical death comes and take us into His presence where we will live with Him forever.
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