Struggles
3 My defense to those who
examine me is this: 4 Do
we have no right to eat and drink? 5 Do we have no right to take along a believing
wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord,
and Cephas? 6 Or is it
only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? 7 Who ever goes to war at his
own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or
who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? 1 Corinthians 9:3-7 NKJV
I realize that there are deep, ponderable theological issues that can be discovered in this passage. However, that is not my thought today. I was simply struck with the realization (again!) of just how many struggles Paul went through for the sake of the Gospel. We seem to forget – at least I know that I do – that nothing was easy for Paul. Nothing was easy for any of the Apostles. In fact, nothing was easy for our Lord! Everything that He did for us, He did through the power of the Holy Spirit. That is, He used the same source that we have access to in order to accomplish His mission. We have access – as born-again Christians – to that same source!
I know that life is not easy, and for the active Christian it is even more difficult since we are facing an enemy. Those that are not saved do not have to face their enemy. He is still the enemy, but he doesn’t care about them, so life is easier. A bit. Sorta. The long-term result is MAJOR AWFUL, however. I would MUCH RATHER go through the trials associated with doing the work of God and battling the enemy. The end result is AWESOME!
So. Keep your eyes on the goal, my friends. Do not lose heart. We all have struggles. Paul had struggles. He won. We can win. Go win!!