Beyond our strength
2 Cor 1:8” For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;
9 indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;
10 who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,
Hey friend, this is no ‘pop-corn’ stuff but strong substance for those who are willing to go through the path of severe trials and trust God to bail them out. Say Amen.
1)For we do not want you to be unaware: Wow, this is awesome, this leader Paul was not going to shove all the problems that he went through under the rug and behave as though everything was super cool. No..no…he was going to tell them all, so that they understand believers are not exempt from sufferings, pain, afflictions, sickness and sometimes it would be unbearable. Just because we obeyed the Lord and moved our ministry and family to another State in the country, that did not mean we would have stress-free shifting or smooth sailing, in fact, we went through nightmare during our initial days.
There were severe riots in the city during that time and on a particular day, we had come to an absolute empty stage. Not a grain in the rice bag, no oil, no petrol, no milk and not a penny in the wallet. Nothing! Children were hungry and we tried to withdraw the minimum balance that too did not work out, remember we are now in a city where we had no friends or relatives. I humbled myself to call the opposite house hindu lady and explained about the banks being closed ( though we had nothing anyway) and asked if she could give us some money. She was at that time out on the roads hunting for an ATM and she said, “Bala, I actually wanted to ask you for some money because I have no money and now all the banks are closed, sorry.” I just sat in my chair staring at the walls. After half-hour, I received a call, when I picked up the phone, it was the same sweet, pleasant voice of that hindu lady, she said, “Bala, I just managed to spot an ATM, I have withdrawn some money, would Rs.2000/- be enough?” Ah, the voice was like fresh water gushing on a barren, broken land! With this experience, I am able to now preach confidently about faith.
2) Our afflictions enables us to comfort others: 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.
6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;
I am speaking right now to a brother or sister reading this sermon, we need to go through every path in our life, rough and tough, holding on to the Hand of our Creator, rather than try to skip and do a long jump or high jump. It doesn’t happen that way. The prison was designed by God for Joseph. People going through marital, financial and emotional problems wish them to vanish immediately. It can happen even to a church or ministry, when the spirit that once united a people has been broken by selfishness or petty concerns or may be there is barrenness in the ministry. But listen, we cannot immediately turn around the situation, we need to wait on God to deliver us from this dark period. There are some pastors who would close their church ministry if people don’t show up, if your calling for church ministry so from the Lord then you need to persevere no matter what. Do the Bible study if there are people there or not, I remember preaching to empty chairs and benches for many years…yes , you heard it right, not many months but many years. Was that easy? Not at all. Not enough, we had to run a school and hostel for the poor, Abide School, in the outskirts of the city where there was no water, we had no money and no staff either. We survived though and received Government recognition and also successfully completed ten years. Now, we have trained, wonderful teachers, funds to pay huge rent, and also manage the school successfully even during this COVID lockdown period. Every ministry is unique, so are you!
There are treasures hidden in the dark! God says, “I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. “(Isaiah 45:3)
3) “We had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead..(verse 9)
The above scripture is profound friend! What does this mean: We had the sentence of death within ourselves? It can be similar to the doctor’s verdict when he says: “you have cancer that is irrecoverable and fatal, your marriage stands annulled - no chance whatsoever; nevertheless, it is during ‘such’ times when human mind and brain fail that we need to put our trust in God who raised the dead. Say Amen and do a salsa for serving a God who is awesome!
• Think of the people who lost their loved ones or who lost their hands or limbs during a terrorist attack or earthquake, such situations are called “beyond our strength”; however, God is able to rescue and revive you even from such pain. Say Amen.
• When people around you say that you can never get married, tell them that you serve a God who raises the dead.
• When the doctor gives you a report that says, ‘last stage of cancer’, look at it and say that you serve a God who raises the dead things and creates New parts.
• When the Church looks dead with no members or any kind of activity and your neighbors encourage you to close it (this happened to us), stay firm, think of your God who works silently and keep opening the church everyday and pray for a resurrection.
• Your Uterus may look barren and dead but God can do the impossible
Click link below, and read my awesome testimony of how God healed my uterus with multiple fibroids and the birth of my son Joshua which brought to work fulltime in the vineyard of the Lord.
https://worshipjesusministriestrust.org/aboutus.php
God bless you
