Perseverance 03: I’m Overwhelmed

Orientate

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul bares his soul. He openly talks about his struggles and suffering. It’s not a pity party, just a deeply honest account of his journey in serving God and people. If you think that following Jesus should be all plain sailing, this is the book for you. Paul shares his fears and disappointments and battles along with his rock-solid faith that God is at work in and through his life in every circumstance. In today’s reading, Paul describes a time when the pressure was so great that he reached rock bottom, thinking his life was finished. See what he says about his experience and its purpose.

Explore: 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favour granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Journal

1.       What is God saying to me? Which verse is most significant?

2.       What so I want to discuss/explore further?

3.       What do I need to do?

4.       What purpose does Paul find in his suffering?

Reflect

Paul was a real goer. He was courageous, determined, resilient and indomitable. An irate crowd could stone him half to death and the next day he would be up preaching again. You just couldn’t hold him down. So when Paul says, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life,” you know things must have been really awful. He doesn’t tell us the exact circumstances, but even Paul was completely overwhelmed by the situation. 

It’s likely that you will face times in life that are so horrible/painful that you will feel completely overwhelmed. I’m not talking about facing a few disappointments. I mean when multiple struggles heap up on each other and you’ve got absolutely nothing left. It just feels that there is no point or possibility of going on. If this happens, you’re not alone. This is where Paul found himself.

Such an overwhelming situation is sometimes described as the “dark night of the soul.” It’s so black that it can even feel like God has abandoned us. These are crucial, turning points in our lives. As we suffer, we either hold more firmly onto God in absolute desperation or we abandon him in our pain and bitterness. It’s a choice we make.

There is no doubt about the choice Paul made when he was overwhelmed. He threw himself onto God and relied on God to deliver. And he did deliver, and Paul knew that he would continue to do so (1:10). What a courageous and powerful call by Paul. But it is a call that you too will probably have to make at times if you are to persevere as a follower of Jesus and finish well. May God give you strength as you need it.

Pray

I wish that I could just sail through life, enjoying the pleasures and avoiding the pain. It would be so much easier. But I know that you are making my life significant, not easy. You are forging in me a stronger dependence on you that will lead to a deeper relationship between us, and this mostly comes through testing. So when I hit life’s really hard stuff, may I run to you and not away from you. May I hold on to you like never before.

Respond

If possible, think of a time in your Christian life when you felt overwhelmed (or at least under significant pressure). Reflect and journal on what kept you holding on to Jesus.