“For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again” (2 Cor. 1:8-10). The first question that comes to mind after reading these verses is what affliction Paul and his companions suffered in Asia.
There are two general schools of thought regarding that question. The first group argues that Luke did not record what the persecution was, but that it must have been pretty severe. The second group of commentators argues that Paul was referring to the uproar in Ephesus when Demetrius, the silversmith, and other craftsmen opposed him and his companions. The craftsmen felt threatened by the monotheistic gospel since it would mean less revenue for their Artemis statues. I don’t really place much emphasis on the cause rather than the result – that Paul and his companions despaired of life. When we fixate on the unknown and come up with all sorts of conjectures, we run the risk of losing the intended lesson, which in this case is reliance on God.
Unfortunately, we tend to rely on that which we can see and touch or directly communicate with. And it is not just us; people have done it throughout the ages. In the Book of Isaiah, for example, King Hezekiah presumably stopped paying taxes to Assyria because of a better protection deal he thought he had from Egypt. In chapter 30, God chastises Israel for trusting in Egypt instead of asking Him for guidance. In Jer. 17:5, the dangers of trusting or relying on man are stated emphatically, “Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.” Our reliance should always be on the all-powerful God and not on man, who can do nothing by comparison. The Bible is clear that when we rely on man over God, we are cursed.
Paul points out that we all need to read and understand the words, “But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God.” The other day I spoke to a Christian friend, Lindsey, and we discussed the fact that the devil seems to be at large in the world today. Everything appears to be upside down, with right being considered wrong and wrong being considered right. When I returned home, I was reading the Bible and came across the selection for today. As I pondered the meaning, the connection between what Paul said and our present situation became crystal clear. As America has prospered, our reliance on God has waned. No longer do we as a country approach His throne daily in prayer. No longer is He first and foremost in most people’s thoughts. No longer is He the ultimate authority or the one to trust.
It’s as if we have decided we don’t need God anymore and have tossed Him to the curb, so to speak. As the decades have sped by, the numerical decline in the church has increased, seemingly even more rapidly. Now, instead of being the center of our nation’s weekly routine, the church has been relegated to the back seat or is called a meeting place of “fundamentalist nut-jobs.” And it only appears like things are going to get worse for the faithful few. I dare say many are already feeling a certain amount of spiritual despair. But maybe the cup is not half empty after all. Maybe this is our wake-up call to turn back to God and rely on Him for the strength of the church.
We are all individuals who are part of the corporate body of Christ, and we should stop relying on man and his tactics to grow or sustain the numerical and spiritual growth of the church. Maybe it is time to once again rely on God for all things. Maybe it is time to preach the truth of the gospel and not the emotionally driven drivel of man. Maybe it is our time to “wake up and smell the roses.”
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