To Have, You Must Accept Having Nothing
Afflictions, grief, poverty, and lack is generally considered as undesireable and often unfair. Times of unhappiness, melancholy, hardship, and need can weigh heavily on a wearied soul. This can promote the sympathy, condolences, pity, or indifference of others. But how different from God’s design for His children.
it was through suffering that the Lord Jesus Himself learned willing obedience to the Father. It is through the same pathway that we too grow in grace and come into deeper knowledge of Him. In following Jesus, we come to appreciate that to have, we must accept having nothing.
“Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.”
2 corinthians 6:10 nlt
Paul Was No Stranger To Suffering
Paul was no stranger to suffering. He catalogued his sufferings in 2 Corinthians.
“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was pelted with stones. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”
2 Corinthians 11:23-27 NIV
Yes, Paul indeed suffered, more than most of us will ever endure. He writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to rejoice in suffering, and to count it all joy when you meet trials. We can be assured that he is speaking from a place of deep personal understanding.
Sorrowful, Yet Rejoicing
In this verse, Paul reminded the Corinthians of his and his co-workers “great endurance; in troubles. In hardships and distresses. Through beatings, imprisonments and riots. In hard work, sleepless nights and hunger. With purity, understanding, patience and kindness. In the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; truthful speech. In the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left. Through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report. Genuine, yet regarded as impostors.Known, yet regarded as unknown.Dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;” Paul is able to conclude that he and his co-workers were “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”
This apparent contradictory principle was a major part of Paul’s experiences and attitude. Paul’s many letters reflected this. Paul discovered that in spite of his sorrow he had a deep and lasting joy. Despite his poverty he had riches without measure. Irrespective of his paucity and lack Paul overflowed with immeasurable abundance from the riches of God’s bountiful supply.
Like Paul…
- We are all ministers of the good news of the gospel of Christ to the people that God has placed within the sphere of our lives and each of us are living epistles that God can use to speak into the lives of others.
- We can also commend ourselves as servants of God as we face our own afflictions, hardships, distresses, and poverty in the power and sufficiency of the Spirit, with patient endurance and rejoicing in the hope set before us.
- We can enrich the lives of others as we point them into the pathway of peace.
May we choose, from this day forward, to rejoice in our suffering, and count it all joy when we meet trials of any kind, knowing that when we are weak, He is strong, to the glory of the Father forevermore.
[Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/2-corinthians-6-10]
God’s Word Can Be Difficult To Unpack Without Guidance
Soul health and spiritual maturity cannot be separated. Our counselors are ordained Christian ministers as well as certified and licensed Christian counselors. We are able to help you experience freedom from shame, anxiety, depression, or marriage issues with methods that are purely Christ-centered. Please click on this link to learn much more about how our Christian counseling in Louisville, Kentucky can help you become a more authentic follower of Christ, and help you find freedom from identity dependence.
Life Training offers convenient sessions at our office in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as online counseling via Zoom or FaceTime. Our non-profit counseling practice has had an outstanding track record from over a decade helping men and women, individuals and couples who are ready to move beyond anxiety, depression, and conflicts in marriage or other relationships find hope and healing in their lives. Contact us today at 502-717-5433, or by email at drdave@lifetrainingcounseling.org