“. . . but as servant of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; . . .” (2 Corinthians 6:4-5)
We wonder these days about the suffering we are enduring in the light of the COVID pandemic. We wonder when it is going to end. If we are vaccinated now, do we have to get vaccinated every year as we do with the flu. Are there other strains of that can infect and hurt us? We wonder who can we trust to tell us what the truth is and what the right thing to do is. For answers, unlike the world who consult the media, the government, or the scientific community, we turn to the Word of God.
And we find in this week’s lectionary readings a common and encouraging theme: God’s providential care over us. The experiences Paul lists here encompass a wide range of painful and unpleasant events. In the midst of such things he did not compromise the word of God or forsake his calling. In fact, Paul enumerated them joyfully as marks or credentials that legitimized his ministry and love for God and his brethren. He knew that the Lord sustained him in the midst of these experiences and allowed them to befall him for His glory and for the sake of the gospel.
Paul’s experiences may make us tremble with fear as much as does COVID. Indeed we would be foolish to think that suffering of any type is easy. But suffering in Christ for the cause of the gospel is far better than suffering for sin. We may think we are not capable of enduring what Paul did and manage to keep the faith in the midst of such suffering, pain and persecution. Yet the Lord will set limits on all we endure and will not let us suffer beyond what His strength imparts to us. He will suffer alongside us. And our faithful endurance will carry the light of God’s love to all who see it.