Have you ever heard or used the above phrase and meant, “I have troubles, but I can be confident that they will never be more than my feeble body or mind can support.”
Is this true? If so, what Bible verses can I use to help me out.
I found one! 2 Corinthians 1:8. Listen to what Paul says, "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."
Whoa! Paul had tremendous troubles. So many that he,"despaired of life"? Paul uses a word here that he only uses in one other place, that being in 4:8 of this same letter. The word, "despaired" means, "to be utterly at a loss, be utterly destitute of ... resources, to renounce all hope, be in despair"
That sounds pretty drastic. That sounds like he had received more than he could bear. So, what happened to him? How did Paul bear up under that overwhelming pressure and stress? This is the really cool part. Paul tells us what happened in verses 3-7. He doesn't say exactly what that, "too much to bear" trouble was but he says what he learned through the stress. Look,
2 Corinthians 1:3 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.
Paul learned that all comfort comes from God even in the "unbearable" times of life. God is comfort. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter. He is able to embrace us with the perfect comfort that will fill our soul with rest.
2 Corinthians 1:5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
Suffering with Christ brings Christ’s comfort in equal or greater portions. With suffering comes comfort. Though it might not always look like what we would perceive as comfortable comfort. See 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 for example.
2 Corinthians 1:6 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. 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.
Another thing that I noticed in these first two paragraphs is that Paul uses two different words for troubles or trials. Did you see that? He uses the word afflictions, which means, trouble, distress, oppression, tribulation, pressure (4x) and sufferings, which means suffering, misfortune; passion (3x). Seven times Paul uses heavy words to describe horrible trials. However, he also shows that God’s comfort is equal to the task as he uses that word comfort ten times!
God’s comfort doesn’t always feel like the comfort that we want to have, which is freedom from all pain and discomfort. However, God’s comfort is sufficient to accomplish what he wants to do in us. That being to make us realize what Paul learned in his discomfort, that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness and his grace is sufficient to press us into the image of Christ. So, take heart my friend! God will bear your heavy load of trials. But, he will also let you feel the weight a bit too.
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