"There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have
grown hopeless about them." -- Clare Boothe Luce
In ministry and in life it is easy to
become discouraged and to lose our sense of focus. In 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 we are given the reason that we can always have hope.
1. Our hope begins with desperation (vv. 8-9a)
2 Corinthians 1:8–9a (ESV) – “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. 9 Indeed, we felt that we
had received the sentence of death.”
We aren’t given any details about the
affliction that Paul and his companions faced, but when you look at the
language of verses 8-9 we find them
in a desperate situation. Paul says that they were “utterly
burdened beyond our strength.” This Greek word used here is often used to describe a
pack animal that collapses under the weight of its load and is unable
to get back up.
Paul goes on to say that they “despaired
of life itself” and that they had “received the sentence of death.” We must not forget that this is the same Paul who
was stoned, shipwrecked, snake bit, and beaten five times with
in an inch of his life. And yet we find him here in Asia questioning whether he
will survive this affliction or not.
As we consider the future of Calvary Baptist Church, it is my hope and my prayer that God will bring us to a place
of desperation.
2. In desperation we find Hope (vv. 9b-10)
2 Corinthians 1:9b–10 (ESV) – “But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who
raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he
will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.”
In the last part of verse 9, the apostle tells us that God’s purpose in allowing the
affliction was that He wouldn’t trust in his own abilities, but that he would
trust in the “God who raises the dead.”
Did
you notice what tense the verb “raise” is in?
It is in
the present tense. If it were in the past tense, Paul would have said, “God who
raised the dead.” But it is in the present tense to emphasize that we serve a
God who continues to display that resurrection power in the delivery of His
children from impossible circumstances.
In verse
10, Paul drives home the message of our hope with these words: “He delivered us . . . he will deliver us . . . he
will deliver us again.”
The second part of my prayer is that as
God moves us to a place of desperation that we will learn to not trust in our
own abilities, but we will trust Him completely!
3. Our commitment to one another (v. 11)
2 Corinthians 1:11 (ESV) – “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give
thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”
The phrase “help
us” in the Greek carries the idea of working together or cooperating.
The final part of my prayer is that we
would not only come to a place of desperation and learn that God is our only
hope, but that we would commit together to be co-laborers in the ministry of
prayer!
Let us commit to one another to pray
fervently and frequently, so that many will give thanks for all the blessings God has granted us.
