2 Cor. 11-13 CSB
Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? 11:28-29
Paul suffered a lot as an apostle and church leader. He gives a litany of all his struggles (and badges of honor) in chapter 11 including imprisonments (plural), beatings, being stoned 3 times, shipwrecks and dangers from every person in every place. If anyone endured persecution and suffering it was Paul. Yet, he says that the greatest hardship for him was not the occasional rock hitting his head 😊 as much as it was the daily pressure of concern for all the churches. He worried about them and he prayed for them. He prayed they would not be weak or stumble. When they fell into sin he took it personally and “burned with indignation.”
Suffering is typically multi-faceted and Paul tells us that plainly. Sometimes emotional turmoil is worse because there is no ibuprofen for that kind of pain and we have no choice but to go to God and trust Him to soothe and heal us. Paul said his emotional trauma was like pressure, and it was daily. The same guy who said, “Be anxious for nothing…” struggled with anxiety over the spiritual health of the churches the Lord had used him to help birth. As one with a pastoral heart, I can get where Paul is coming from. What is the answer? It is to realize that you don’t have the answer, only Jesus does. We have to confess that some things are out of our control, that we are weak and the only strength we have is “Christ in us, our hope of glory.” Our weakness forces us to lean into Him and the result is a strength that only comes from Him. Later Paul says, “Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:9-10)
Think of it like this… You are a vine, a weak spindly thing that can’t stand on its own. Jesus is a mighty oak tree. He is tall, broad and unyielding regardless of the amount of wind or pressure that comes. Vines don’t grow all on their own; they attach themselves to something for support. If you cling to Jesus and grow with Him then it doesn’t matter what happens in life or which way the wind blows. One of two things will happen. Either the storms will come and blow against Jesus and you will be sheltered by Him and protected from the storm on the other side. Or the storm will blow directly against you as you cling to the oak but it will just drive you deeper and deeper into Him. Whether He shelters you from the suffering, or whether the suffering pushes you deeper into Him; either way you are safe and will not fall.
