More Than We Can Bear
"For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life..." (2 Corinthians 1:8)
Occasionally God puts more on us than we can bear. It is popular among Christians to say the opposite and I suppose Christians think so because of the following verse.
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." (1 Corinthians 10:13)
There is a big difference between temptation to sin and suffering persecution. Paul says he and those with him were burdened "beyond measure". They were not being tempted to sin, but were having "trouble" so intense that they "despaired even of life."
Sometimes we suffer for doing good. If we survive those times, there is much joy when it is over. And even if we don't survive, God still "raises the dead".
"Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us." (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)
Occasionally God puts more on us than we can bear. It is popular among Christians to say the opposite and I suppose Christians think so because of the following verse.
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." (1 Corinthians 10:13)
There is a big difference between temptation to sin and suffering persecution. Paul says he and those with him were burdened "beyond measure". They were not being tempted to sin, but were having "trouble" so intense that they "despaired even of life."
Sometimes we suffer for doing good. If we survive those times, there is much joy when it is over. And even if we don't survive, God still "raises the dead".
"Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us." (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)