Good morning,
One
of the most delightful surprises that comes with getting older is the
wonderful truth that we are on a journey that will never get old or
boring. At every stage of life the Lord has planned some new truths for
us to discover and some old lessons to learn in a far more detailed
way. The Lord knows when we have developed enough to be able to see the
truths in his Word that will give us encouragement to go on in our
service for him. Paul, the Apostle, was a good example of this truth.
He went from being a trained scholar and hard driving success oriented
religious trouble maker, to become the loving, godly leader to the newly
developing church. Paul grew up doing his best to be a successful and
competent leader in the most elite group of Jewish leaders. He wasn’t
afraid to to try to stop these “ungodly” followers of Jesus until he
found himself talking to Jesus himself. Then everything in his life
changed. He had to start all over again. Now he had to try to
understand how the Creator of the Universe wanted him to think and
believe.
The process took a lot of time. Part of the time Paul
found himself alone in the desert studying the old texts with new eyes.
Now he was able to understand so much of what the prophets were saying
and how Jesus of Nazareth met all the qualifications to be the promised
Messiah. Then little by little the Lord gave him more practice in
teaching and preaching these new truths until he was able to partner
with a wonderful godly man like Barnabas. Then one day the Lord called
Paul and Barnabas to something entirely new. They went where the Holy
Spirit led them day by day and became the first missionaries to the Jews
and Gentiles in Asia. When they returned to their home church, the
Lord let them rest awhile and then off they went again on another
mission trip. When Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians, he was able
to tell them about a whole new step of faith that God had opened up to
them. With all the background that God had given them, these faithful
men learned in a dramatic way that they were not competent to tackle
this level of stress by themselves. They gave up on living, but not on
their Savior. They stopped relying on themselves and learned to rely
only on God. Instead of death they found new life in trusting their
Savior, Jesus, to carry them through. Thank God he is willing to do the
same for us as well. Never Give Up. Keep hanging on to Jesus.
2 Corinthians 1:8 We
think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble
we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed
beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live
through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped
relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the
dead.
Roy Wisner
