Acts 20:21-24
"I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."
Paul preached this message when he was on his way to Jerusalem to face all kinds of hardship and oppression. He clearly knew that it was God's will to put him through the hardship in order to accomplish the mission that God entrusted him. Throughout his lifetime of ministry, Paul experienced all kinds of hardship and persecution, some of which even he thought came out of nowhere. None of the hardships, however, made him lose faith and hope; instead, suffering strengthened his faith. He understood more clearly that the world and things of the world will eventually pass away, and only the Lord's kingdom will last forever. Our Lord alone will be the same yesterday, today and forever.
God allows hardship to come to us so that we can solely focus on Him instead of desiring things of the world. Paul said that "I consider my life worth nothing to me" - We can only know how to live for the Lord if we first learn to die for the Lord. What does dying for the Lord mean? It's not death of the body, but rather being willing to suffer for the Lord. No matter what God wants us to experience, we need to be willing to learn what God wants us to learn with a humble and submissive heart.
Sometimes God is determined to harm us through suffering. His goal is not just to make us suffer, but rather He wants us to learn our weaknesses through all the suffering so that we will turn back to God again and again and really know that He is filled with abundant grace. Paul was able to face hardships without any fear because He truly knew that God was still sitting on the throne, and even his life is in the hands of God He knew that while he was suffering, he was in the almighty arms of God and God will open ways for him with signs and wonders. If God didn't allow it, nothing would have happened to him. Paul set an example for us to live and die for God; if we are determined to die for the Lord, we can then truly live for Him every day.
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