To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 1:8 “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.”

Do you like others to think that you have it all together? Are you careful to show the “stiff upper lip” no matter what comes? Are you hesitant to let anyone know of your troubles, and to let anyone in on your feelings of weakness and need? Such an attitude can be a real temptation, particularly for a believer, for don’t we want others to see that we have a strong faith and that we are solid under pressure? In fact, isn’t that what God wants us to demonstrate in our lives – and by this “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15)?

But then we come to Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 1:8 above. Here this great spiritual giant tells the Corinthian church that he has had trouble in his life, and in fact he says that he wants them to know about it. Not only that, but he wants them to know that what he had experienced was more than he could bear and that he had even been in great despair, wondering if he would even live through it. He wasn’t afraid to tell them of his struggles, and in fact, it was good for them to know about them.

We see similar things throughout the Scriptures. For example, the psalmist simply states – in writing, so we all can see – “My soul is cast down within me” (Psalm 42:5). Then in Psalm 143:4 David tells us “My spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.” Job was in such anguish in his suffering that he said “Let the day perish on which I was born” (Job 3:3). And then we have the very words of Jesus to His disciples, as He struggles in Gethsemane on the way to the cross, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me” (Matthew 26:38).

So we see that God has given us many examples of people who believed in Him, yet who struggled greatly with the things of life and told others about it. This should be a lesson to us that if we are struggling it’s OK to tell someone about it. So often, when we do this, we find that there are others who know exactly how we’re feeling, for many have been there themselves. It’s a sign of honesty, of being real and open with people. In the end, it is often in our weakness that we can help people, for they can identify with us as they perhaps couldn’t otherwise. That’s one of the wonderful things about Jesus, that though He was the very Son of God, our great High Priest, yet “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). What a comfort to know that when we turn to Christ in times of difficulty, we know that He can identify with us in that struggle because He’s faced the same types of difficulties Himself – and He has made sure that we know about it. So, we can know that it is appropriate to have the humility to let others know about our own struggles – for one reason, so that they can help us and pray for us, and secondly, so that they may be encouraged that “they’re not the only one” going through deep waters.

May God help us to be humble enough to be honest with our Christian brothers and sisters regarding our own struggles. May He help us to, like Paul Jesus, and others, ask other believers to pray for us when we face difficulties. And may we know that in those trials, God is humbling us and strengthening us – and perhaps others through us in ways that we don’t necessarily see, as we “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).