July 28, 2023

II Corinthians 11: 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. (NIV)

Most people live their lives on either side of now.*

The “everything else” to which Paul refers here was nothing to sneeze at. In the previous verses he lists hard work, imprisonment, flogging, and exposure to death as some of his experiences for the sake of the gospel. But those things are in the past. Paul’s trials have served their purpose, but it is time to move on to what he deals with daily in the present: his concern for the churches.

We all face trials from time to time – but honestly, how many times have you been beaten or imprisoned for preaching the gospel? Not to belittle what you have been through, I ask you: do you need to stop living in the past? Perhaps you are facing hard times right now. Wouldn’t it be easier to handle today’s problems if you weren’t still carrying around yesterday’s?

Paul replaced his personal burdens with his concern for others. It is something we should try as well. Pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ who are facing tough times. Spend time in prayer for your preacher and your elders and the missionaries you know. Get down on your knees and pray for the persecuted church in other parts of the world. Praying for others, rather than dwelling on your own past or present problems, won’t make your problems go away but it will certainly help put them in perspective.

From our limited human perspective it’s hard to sort out the painful from the purposeful because they are usually intertwined.*