Testimony to Paul’s sincerity
Key Verses: 2, 4, 8, 12, 17, 22,
There are times in every person’s life when we need some extra compassion and comfort. Often this is connected to a loss of some kind, a death, a significant shift in environment like moving or changing work situation. Every person reacts differently to loss, and the journey can be a lonely one, even when we have people right beside us. Paul assures us that God has not left us in those times. It might feel that way, and those words might flow from our mouths, but He has not left us to travel through these times alone. Feeling and reality often conflict in these moments. It can feel very lonely, but God is still present.
One of the reasons Paul says we go through hard times and receive God’s comfort is so that we can pass along that comfort when someone else needs comfort. We pass along what we have received. There is nothing quite like sitting with someone who has been through a similar difficult situation. They seem to know what we are going through. We can identify with each other. Paul is such a servant of Christ that even his suffering ends up helping them.
Paul got to a point in his suffering that he felt like giving up on life itself. He felt so close to death that he did not think he would return. We don’t know exactly what he was going through at that moment in his life, but he was ready to give up, despairing of life. This doesn’t sound like our normal Paul. It is hard to imagine the Apostle Paul giving up, but that is what happened. Almost! But in that darkest moment, God came through. His strength came and raise Paul. What Paul was powerless to do, God did, in response to the prayers of His people. We don’t know how long this transformation took, but it did happen.
Paul can say that he lived his life with integrity and godly sincerity. His life was consistent. He didn’t act differently in different situations. He was the real deal, as we would say it today. Once Christ took hold of him, and he took hold of Christ, he was on a single mission, to glorify Christ in his life and death. And this change in character was genuine, reaching to his deepest parts. God thoroughly changed Paul. It was God’s work. It was God’s power. It was God’s purpose. Are we consistent in our lives? At times are we faking it until we make it? Not Paul.
But the Corinthians thought Paul had changed his mind, and chosen not to visit them, as he had stated, that he had perhaps lied to them about his intentions. Even though Paul’s plans had to change, his intentions to minister to them had not. In Christ all God’s promises are fulfilled. They move from the “no” column to the “yes” column when Christ enters the picture. We know this to be true because we now have the Holy Spirit in us, a deposit that proves God’s Word to us is true. God doesn’t put a deposit down without the intention and the means to fulfill His promise to us. We can count on God!
The Arnold Journey 