Day 340.
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV)
For those trusting Christ in order to rid themselves of difficulties, think again. Paul was an apostle and was not free from anxiety, hardship, or persecution. His faith did not lead to an easier life but a far, far harder life. In fact, Jesus told Ananias in a dream about Paul, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my sake.” So becoming a Christian is not a walk in the park. However, that is not to say that these hardships are without purpose. As Paul explains, these very things that expose Paul’s weaknesses help him find strength in the Lord. When everything else is stripped away, Christ becomes our soul source of strength. It is perhaps then that we find out how strong Christ really is.
Lord, not that I want to have everything stripped away, but I do ask that you help me to find my strength in you. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39 ESV)
