Three Clues for Courageous Living

There can be no doubt that Paul exhibited enormous courage; and there can be no doubt that the bloodhounds of hate were on his trail! Despite being under constant attack, Paul said, “we do not lose heart” but are being “renewed day by day.” This statement should immediately get our attention.

Instead of being another joyless face in the crowd, and instead of being in that vast number of congregants for whom the Christian life isn’t working, our life could become like Paul's—one so courageous, so contagious, that others will turn to God to get what we've got.

Stunned by this prospect, and stirred in our hearts to learn how this can be, we will consider one verse in Scripture (II Corinthians 4:17) that provides three clues for how the courageous life could be our life. For example, Paul speaks of his— 

Light Affliction

Now, if you had been jailed, beaten, stoned, and some say actually killed—and even now you were being stalked so they could kill you again—would you regard all this as a “light affliction”? No way! Most of us would have had our joy so jammed up we'd be moaning through that old spiritual, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen.”

The real reason Paul could talk this way was because of this one fact—he wasn’t carrying the burden! The command of the Lord is to cast our cares upon him (I Peter 5:7)—and that’s exactly what Paul did! And in doing so, Paul discovered a reality that could be ours, too: Just as soon as we cast our care upon the Lord, we will immediately feel the burden lifted! Moreover, that which happens suddenly will then be sustained!

A second clue for courage found in this same verse is this: Paul's burden was but— 

For a Moment

Have you ever noticed that when problems come, time seems to slow down, seemingly with the cruel motive to make us experience every particle of pain? This slow-down can become so defining it seems to encapsulate our life, as if we're being finished off with slow torture.

So why did Paul have a different view? There's only one reason. Paul had an eternity perspective! Now, given that our time on earth is but a small parenthesis in the great story of eternity, there's a strong infusion of reality supporting this perspective.

When calculating the time one has on this earth from the cradle to the grave, the answer turns out to be about twenty-seven thousand days. It may be a little more; it may be a little less. But that’s a close approximation of the extent of our days on earth.

Once we start thinking about our life in terms of days, our journey here won’t seem so long—especially when we start thinking about how long eternity is! Can you fathom it—living in uninterrupted bliss forever and ever? Contemplate that! Fixate on that! Because by comparison these days on earth are brief and fast fleeting. So we can hold on for a little while, can’t we? 

Another remarkable clue for courage cited in this same verse, relates to the way our ongoing trial is—

Working For Us

 Often, when big-time problems come our way, we're prone to think, “Why me? Why this? Why now?” We certainly don't think these problems are working for us!

Paul did. I mean he really did, for he goes on to say that these threatening problems are working for us “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” From Paul's perspective, there were super off-setting benefits, hugely in his favor!

Now, I ask you: Who thinks this way?

 The book of James helps us to understand why Paul thought this way when it instructs us to count it all joy when we fall into various trials. Joy for troubles? Surely, that's not God's answer. And you're right, it isn't. God's answer is all joy! Do the math; count it all joy. Because these trials, James tells us, will help us to produce patience.

 Whenever we exercise patience and exercise it for the length of time God has determined, patience will so work for us—that's right, for us—that we will become perfect, entire, lacking nothing (James 1:4).

Can language get any stronger than that?

According to Scripture, every blessing possible for believers on this side of Heaven will be ours if we’ll just learn to let patience be our response to problems. In fact, much more than what was ever threatened will instead be gained, if … we’ll just handle each problem God’s way.

Patience—which means to rely on the divine supply; it is this decision to keep faith on the job—is the key that will unlock a treasure house of colossal, stupendous blessings. Those exercising patience get will renewed now and rewarded later.

One verse of Scripture, that's all we've considered here. But that one verse is enough for our testimony to become more like Paul's: head-lifting, heart-lightening, and faith-strengthening.

 Courageous? Yes, indeed! But contagious—why would we say that? Because in this same verse, Paul uses the plural pronoun, we. And two verses later, he uses it again.

The life described here is obviously an uncommon life, right? But the courage in this one man became contagious; and we know that because- 

What Scripture inspired

in Paul's life transpired,

so that others conspired

    to live as they now desired