…Face Difficult Days
See Clearly This is who I am This is who you are
Troubles – Tests v 4
‘ 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.’ 2 Cor 4:7-9
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 2 Cor 11:24-28
For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn – conflicts on the outside, fears within. 2 Cor 7:5
Take Away Relax: Troubles are not a sign that God has left you
Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Cor 4:16
‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ 2 Cor 12:9
6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. 2 Cor 7:6-7
Take Away Relax: Troubles are not a sign that God has left you Watch: God helps directly and indirectly
4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. …. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
Take Away Relax: Troubles are not a sign that God has left you Watch: God helps directly and indirectly Persevere: Pressure is not Pointless