THINK YOU HAVE TROUBLES?

If you think you've got troubles, consider the Apostle Paul.  Paul is like the Energizer Bunny; he kept on going!  I find Paul a fascinating example of perseverance.  Paul had a zealous nature about everything that caught his attention.  We know that he was a faithful persecutor of Christians, believing himself to be a hero among the Jews.  The Christians found him to be a fearsome adversary seeking to destroy them, thereby wiping out Christianity.  When he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul because a fearless advocate for the cause of Christ.  Nothing stopped him. 

Consider these Bible accounts that demonstrate Paul's faithfulness despite repeated persecutions and trials:

* After his encounter with Jesus, he was blinded for three days.  He was brought to Damascus where he waited for the next step in his new walk with Jesus.  (Acts 9)

* While in Damascus he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues causing a major upset among the Jews.  They plotted to kill him, but friends lowered him down the wall of Damascus in a basket because the gates were being watched.  (Acts 9)

* Shunned by the apostles and other Christians in Jerusalem because of his past life of persecution, Paul finally gains acceptance through the testimony of Barnabas.  While in Jerusalem, he caused offense with his bold preaching.  Learning that he was to be killed, some of the Christians escorted him Caesarea and on to Tarsus.

* Wherever Paul went, trouble followed.  The bolder he preached the more irate the crowd became.  He and his partner in ministry, Barnabas, were persecuted, thrown out of towns, and targeted for death.  Yet each time they escaped, filled with joy and many began to follow Jesus.

* Paul broke fellowship with Barnabas over a disagreement about bringing along a young man by the name of John Mark on one of their missionary trips.  Each took on a new partner, creating two teams to spread the message that Jesus was the Christ. (Acts 15)

* Paul and his ministry partner Silas were imprisoned in Philippi.  Certain people were angry because Paul had exorcised a demon from a slave girl.  She was used by her masters to tell fortunes.  With their money making venture shut down, things got ugly.  The slave girl's masters complained to the magistrates who felt it their duty to beat Paul and Silas and imprison them.  They were placed in the inner most part of the prison and placed in stocks to further secure them from possible escape.  While singing praises to God in joy, a great earthquake caused the doors of the prison to open and the stocks to fall off.  Yet, Paul and Silas chose to stay, resulting in the jailer's conversion along with his family. (Acts 16)

* Entering Jerusalem, Paul stirred things up again with a misunderstanding.  He was mobbed and beaten until he was rescued by soldiers.  The soldiers bound him in chains and took him away.  Paul was brought before the Jewish council who made false accusations unworthy of death.  When the Jews plotted to kill him, the chief captain helped him escape when he discovered he was a Roman citizen.  He passed Paul on to Felix, the governor of Judea.  There, Felix also heard his case, but again no fault was found according to Roman Law.  Paul remained in custody for two years, then he was brought before Festus who sought to appease the Jews.  Paul demanded his case go to Caesar in Rome.  While awaiting a decision from Festus, Paul told his story to King Agrippa and his wife Bernice.  King Agrippa would have released Paul, but was bound by Paul's request to appear before Caesar. (Acts 23-26)

* On the way to Rome, Paul sailed on a doomed ship.  They got caught in a seasonal storm off the coast of Clauda near to Crete.  Despite all attempts to save the ship and its crew and passengers, the ship ran aground on the island of Melita.  The cargo was lost, but no one lost their life.  (Acts 26-28)

* No sooner had they reached dry land than Paul was bitten by a viper hidden in a bundle of sticks that Paul had gathered for a fire.  He should have died but he didn't, proving that God saved him.

* When Paul reached Rome, he was chained to a Roman soldier and confined to his home for two years. (Acts 28)

* While imprisoned in Rome, Paul wrote many letters of encouragement and exhortation to the churches he had started which we can now read in the New Testament. These letters were addressed to the believers in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Phillipi, Colosse, Thesalonica, as well as to Timothy and Philemon, men who were dear to Paul. 

As we read of Paul's tribulations over the course of many years, we must ask why did he keep going?  Why didn't he just quit?  How could he face another mob who wanted to kill him?  Surely he must have been a physical wreck after so many beatings and stonings. 

How did Paul feel about his troubles?

Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthian church, "And he (Jesus) said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee:  for my strength is made perect in weakness."  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake:  for when I am weak, than am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-110

In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:  knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope:  and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."  Romans 5:1-5

Despite his afflictions, Paul always had a word of hope to offer to the believers.  To the Corinthians in his second letter, he wrote:  "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ."  2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Paul realized that his life had purpose according to the will of God, and he was willing to be used to accomplish God's purpose.  Paul was an earnest contender for the faith.

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

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"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;" 2 Corinthians 3:5