Study 48 – Don’t Lose Heart

Sometimes Paul faced extreme testing. He said, ‘We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God. Who raises the dead’ (2 Cor. 1:8,9). And later he declared confidently, ‘We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day’ (2 Cor. 4:16).

Pressures Threaten
This sort of pressure doesn’t come only to apostles. It affects believers who are trying to run a business; raise children; work with difficult colleagues; manage the household budget and be kind to awkward relatives. It’s for those who are struggling to maintain a godly attitude when they’re wrongly accused, when they’re going through persecution or when the car has been vandalised yet again! If you’re one of them you’ll often be tempted to think, ‘I’ve got nothing left to give.’ But grace is there for you – like those novelty birthday cake candles. You blow them out, but they all immediately ignite again! That’s how grace works: ‘Yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me’ – whatever the circumstances.

Paul faced such intense pressure that he ‘pleaded with the Lord to take (the thorn in his flesh) away’. We don’t know what this thorn was, but for Paul to ask three times for it to be removed suggests that this was no casual prayer request. We might have expected God to get rid of the problem immediately, ‘But he said to (Paul), “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”’ (2 Cor. 12:9).

Grace Abounds
In my Bible I’ve underlined the phrase, ‘But he said to me’. It’s not enough to know in theory that God’s grace is sufficient. We need to experience intimacy with God and the love behind his grace. When we hear his voice and receive his renewing touch, we see everything in the right proportion. Then we understand through experience that his grace really is sufficient and are content even when the battles remain. Furthermore, we freely declare with Paul, ‘Therefore I will rather boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me’.

Paul’s letter to the Philippians is characterised by overflowing joy. It’s hard to imagine how gruelling his circumstances were. He was in prison and hovering between life and death. He knew he might die, but if he lived he expected to be fruitful (Phil. 1:22). Why was he so confident? Because he’d ‘received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith’ (Rom. 1:5). Paul knew that if he lived, people would be transformed through his ministry. This was what he had received grace to accomplish. It was the reason he was on the planet. God’s grace wasn’t going to be in vain. Like Nehemiah, he could confidently say, ‘The God of heaven will give us success' (Neh. 2:20).

God wants you to realise that you have a totally new identity. So don’t let his grace be in vain in your life. Don’t reject the offer of grace when you’re going through severe trials. You have unique gifts and were made to be fruitful. If you consistently draw on his grace, he will give you success.