Imagine a conversation taking place back in the early days of the Church – in New Testament times.
"You are overreacting. You'll be able to bounce back. This is just a temporary, passing storm. You've hit a rough spot – a bit of turbulence. It always seems worse when you're in the thick of it."
"No, this is it. It really is all over. I'm up against the wall, and there's no chance of me pulling through this one. I've been in other tight spots and had many other tough times, but I have given up hope of being delivered this time. It can't be done. I'm finished. You can accuse me of 'needless' worry – I call it 'justified' despair. I know it's the end. I can't bounce back this time."
You’re curious. Who is singing the blues? What Bible character is feeling so distraught and filled with despair? He must not know His God – you think. Had he been enjoying daily communion with his Lord, he certainly wouldn’t be entertaining such dark and despondent thoughts – such God-limiting notions!
Would you be surprised to learn that the despairing soul was the Apostle Paul? Whatever happened in Ephesus sure shook him up. Some think it was the out-of-control, dangerous riot that erupted in the idol-infested city to protest the flourishing Gospel message. Others speculate he was stricken by some life-threatening illness. Some think it was the heart-breaking news he received of assembly problems in Corinth. Whatever it was, Paul was crushed, and he could see no way out.
Here’s how Paul described it to the Corinthian believers:
For we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about the affliction and oppressing distress which befell us in [the province of] Asia, how we were so utterly and unbearably weighed down and crushed that we despaired even of life [itself]. Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the [very] sentence of death…” 2Corinthians 1:8-9 AMP
JB Phillips paraphrases it this way:
“At that time, we were completely overwhelmed; the burden was more than we could bear; in fact, we told ourselves that this is the end.”
Can you imagine Paul getting up off his knees, eyes swollen from crying, face red and still wet and looking in the mirror and saying: “That’s it, boy! It’s all over. I’m finished!”
Perhaps that’s how you’ve been feeling lately. Is it any comfort to know that great heroes of the faith have been there too? And did Paul bounce back? He sure did. In the depths of his despair, he took his eyes off himself and his own feeble abilities to solve the crisis. Instead, he fixed His gaze and pinned his hopes on God. Here’s how the rest of that episode reads:
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on GOD who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again. 2Corinthians 1:9-10 ESV
Dear Child of God, fasten or fix or glue your eyes upon Him. Set your hope on God. Take your eyes off natural responses, human interventions, normal thinking and intellectual rationalizations. God is able to do the supernatural.
It’s not over until GOD says it’s over.
Don’t hesitate to share a thought from your personal experience or a verse that has been a blessing to you – in the comment section below. Or, if you would like to reach out privately, click below.
