Some may forego this devotional, because the subject may seem too morbid, but suppose that I might not be talking about final physical death, only? What if you were facing the death of your job, marriage, or the death of your ministry seemed imminent? In the case of Paul and his co-laborers, their ministry in Asia had impacted lives so much that it caused people to avoid shops that sold idols. Retailers and haters organized themselves to rid their country of the instigator – Paul and his co-laborers. Paul’s go-to help for this situation is the basis of our study today. Join me as we meditate on the Word of God!

DATE POSTED Saturday, 2022-07-09
WRITTEN AT: O Brien, FL

BY: Ed Algreen

SCRIPTURE FROM: 2 Corinthians 1:8-10
TRANSLATION: Contemporary English Version (CEV)

BIBLE TEXT: 8 My friends, I want you to know what a hard time we had in Asia. Our sufferings were so horrible and so unbearable that death seemed certain. 9 In fact, we felt sure we were going to die. But this made us stop trusting in ourselves and start trusting God, who raises the dead to life. 10 God saved us from the threat of death, and we are sure that he will do it again and again. 

APPLICATION: Random shootings occur because of the sting of one finding themselves out of a job, and the hopelessness of how their family will survive the new financial woes. Homes are destroyed because of broken marriages, and often partners will resort to criminal acts against each other in the name of revenge. The onset of Covid, cancer, or any other deadly disease may stretch the imagination of individuals and cause them to try very extreme actions as they fight for earthly ways to save their opportunity for continued life as they once knew it. So, what does the Christian do in this regard that’s any different to what the unbeliever might do? Let’s believe that God will reveal great truths though His Word that helps direct us in our times of desperation. We will see that in Paul’s scenario, they quickly ran out of personal options and ran to God – the same God who opened the eyes of Saul who once persecuted Christians and the work of Jesus Christ. As a changed man, Paul, as he was later known, had witnessed miracle upon miracle. He had seen the awesome handiwork of God who rescued His people from imminent death and from obvious dire situations. Paul quickly realized that this new danger they faced was much more than he and his men could do anything about. As a man of God, I can only say that for the point at which Paul found himself, he knew that God was showing him that there was only one way out of this, and it was not for Paul to think of more earthly weaponry to use against his enemy. I have often heard the old adage that desperate people will often avoid looking up and calling on God, until they are flat on their back and have no other choice but to ‘look up’! Paul had seen the powerful works of the God he served, and although he couldn’t see any humanly way to fight the enemy in his current situation, he knew a God who could. I looked at many Bible translations and one thing that read the same across the board was ‘this made us stop trusting ourselves and start trusting in Almighty God’! Friends, so many of us have heard of too many family and friends who have lost their fight to Covid, cancer or heart attack over recent months and years. Are you at the point yet where Paul found himself in our text today? Have you surrendered your all to Almighty God and called on Him in desperation to protect you and your family, and to recuse you from the evil forces that surround you in all of this earthly violence in our world, for there is so little respect for life itself? Perhaps death seems imminent for you in one of the other scenarios mentioned above. Please don’t wait to see if this will affect you, just know that it will. Trust in God with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Do not lean on the enemies ‘wait and see’ option, for your circumstances might very well be way beyond your ability to overcome. Never think that you will have time later to start seeking God, for no man knows the day or the hour when our Lord will return to take His saints home to glory! Trust God today, even while things appear ‘peachy’! Notice that in times of war people will turn to the world’s super-powers for help. In the case of Covid, this philosophy didn’t work, because the whole world was in a dilemma for a resolution. Hopefully God got our attention and made us realize that He alone holds the keys to life and death. He was the only One for our family and friends to turn to in their desperation. Forget about self, and start trusting God today, dear one.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Praise God, I know this Jesus that Paul decided to trust in when he realized the hopelessness of trusting himself for answers to his dilemma! We must still learn to call on God today, for He alone can fight off the vices of Satan and his army of evildoers.

PRAYER: ‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word. Oh, for grace to trust Him more’! Lord Jesus, You know Your children better than anyone knows. No doubt You see us in our daily struggles, and it makes You want to stretch out Your hand and guide us through life’s temptation, struggles, trials and dangers. Please help us to acknowledge our weaknesses and inabilities, and to often be reminded of Your awesome power, strength and power. Please Lord, be our God today in all of life’s situations and in every walk of life that seem so impossible to us. You are our Rock and our eternal salvation! In You alone I place my faith and trust oh Lord. Please help each reader and listener to catch a new glimpse of this, and to sooner do what Paul did – forget about self-abilities, and trust God in everything instead! AMEN!