Painful Ministry

ALL – Psalm 54:1-7
ALL – Proverbs 23:1-3
OT – Isaiah 6:1-7:25
NT – 1 Corinthians 11:16-33

Interesting passage for the day: I have lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights. Often I have been hungry and thirsty and have gone without food; often I have shivered with cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. – 2 Corinthians 11:27, The Living Bible

Thought: Martyrdom. Persecution. Suffering. When I think of the Christians who have endured severe trials for Jesus and His kingdom, I am amazed by them. They seem so strong. What great perseverance! What incredible faith! What certain hope they must have had to walk through the difficulties they did.

And as I am amazed by them, I begin to daydream about if I were ever to go through the same things. I daydream about the powerful statements of faith that would fall from my lips as I stood trial before my persecutors, statements like Stephen’s, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,” and Martin Luther’s, “Here I stand. I can do no other.” And in my daydreams, persecution and martyrdom almost begin to seem like glorious experiences.

They aren’t glorious. They’re dreadful. They’re overwhelming. They’re exhausting.

The verse above is just one verse in quite a lengthy list of sufferings that Paul endured as he proclaimed hope through Jesus Christ. And Paul didn’t write about them to display his strength. He wrote about them to demonstrate his weakness, His complete dependence on Jesus, and the genuine nature of His ministry to the Corinthians. He didn’t endure them because he was strong and glorious; Paul endured them in spite of his weakness because Jesus is worthy.

Question: Do you remember how worthy Jesus is? When Jesus asks you to do something hard, how do you respond? How should you respond?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.