Timeless Perseverance that Speaks
If I received a dollar for every time another believer said to me, “No one goes through what I am going through,” or, “My situation is unique,” or, “No one else suffers like I do,” then I would be a very wealthy man. Whenever we make such claims, we fail to understand (or fail to remember) that the struggle of excruciating, personal suffering spans ages and generations for many, many believers.Even so, if any believer ever endured an exclusive encounter with hardship, it would be the apostle Paul. He suffered repeated beatings, stonings, riots against him, imprisonments, heavy labor, shipwrecks, brutal muggings, sleepless nights, exposure, thirst, and hunger (2 Cor 6:4-10; 11:23-27). Despite these brutal ordeals, he never requested special sympathy.
Paul viewed his suffering as timeless phenomenon, a personal struggle shared by icons of the past and fellow believers in the present.
Paul viewed his suffering as timeless phenomenon, a personal struggle shared by icons of the past and fellow believers in the present. This transcendent perspective motivated him to continue speaking the transforming message of Christ regardless of the suffering he endured.
Remembering David
Through his endless bouts with suffering, Paul found a personal precedent and source of inspiration in the historic figure – the shepherd, warrior, poet and king we know as David. More than one thousand years before, David had endured relentless suffering of his own as Saul hunted for his life. In addition to this, he faced threats from military adversaries during his kingship and endured unbearable turmoil within his own family.How do we know that Paul found encouragement from David? We know because he quoted from a Davidic Psalm to describe his personal approach to suffering. He said, “Since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak” in 2 Corinthians 4:13. The words, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” are a quotation from King David, which he had written in response to his personal conflict with suffering (Psa 116:10). By citing this Psalm, Paul reveals to us that he found strength in his suffering by meditating on Old Testament Scripture, including passages like Psalm 116.
Paul found strength in his suffering by meditating on Old Testament Scripture.
By meditating on the words of David, Paul had developed a shared mindset, a mutual resolve to remain committed to his calling from God. Of this century-old mindset, Paul claimed that “we have the same spirit of faith” (2 Cor 4:13). This indicates that Paul shared with David the relentless faith by which he had persevered through suffering, the kind of confidence in God that permeates the Psalms. Just as David had chosen to believe God, Paul had also chosen to believe in him as well – against all pain, feelings of anguish, and doubts of despair.
Continuing to Speak
As Paul found solace in King David, he also found an example to follow. (This is one of many illustrations of how the Old Testament is a valuable resource for New Testament believers today [2 Tim 3:16]). Though David had suffered many things for his faith in God, he did not allow those things to silence him, saying, “I believed and therefore I spoke” (Psalm 116:10). Inspired by this insistent resolve, Paul said, “We also believe and therefore speak” (2 Cor 4:13). Like David, he would not allow his suffering to silence him from speaking for God.From this statement of firm commitment, we learn that faith in God enables you to keep on speaking when suffering threatens to silence your lips. When you first believe on Christ as God and Savior, you look ahead at what appears to be a bright and happy future; but you may not see the suffering that lies ahead. At the beginning of your walk with God, you share Jesus freely with family and friends, classmates and coworkers; but as you experience adverse reactions and rejection, you may subtly grow more silent about your faith, sharing Christ less and not more.
Faith in God enables you to keep on speaking when suffering threatens to silence your lips.
When you recognize this tendency for yourself, find encouragement in knowing that you are sharing this struggle with believers from centuries before, including some iconic personalities. When you insist that you are suffering in a unique, exclusive, unfair and unprecedented way, then you shut yourself off from this timeless community of faithful believers. Two thousand years ago Paul the apostle swam upstream against this strong undercurrent of silence, solitude and self-pity, and three thousand years ago King David did the same.In fact, faith in God not only enabled these men to keep on speaking for God, but this faith required them to do so. Another way of saying this is that speaking for God is an evidence of believing in God. Both David and Paul explained that they believed and therefore they spoke. This means that their faith caused them to speak in such a way that speaking was the result of their faith. Knowing this, it is accurate to say that when you persevere through suffering, as Paul and David exemplify, then you will not merely “gut it out” through your trials, but you will “speak out” throughout your trials because genuine faith speaks and does not remain silent.
Not for Apostles and Prophets Only
As you consider what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4, you might wonder whether it actually applies to you. After all, Paul was describing his experience as a NT apostle and David was describing his experience as an OT prophet. Since you are neither an apostle nor a prophet, then can you respond to your suffering the way that both these men have done?You certainly can – and you certainly should. I say this based upon the way that Paul phrased his words in 1 Corinthians 4:13-14. In verse 13, he did not refer to himself alone as I or me, but he included other believers using the pronoun we. Some may claim that Paul used we to refer to other first-century apostle besides himself, but not to believers in general like you and me. While this may or may not be the correct interpretation, Paul followed this statement with a direct reference to the coming resurrection in which every believer –not just apostles – will take part.What’s more, he expanded this experience further by ending his sentence with the inclusive phrase “with you,” meaning “together with you” (1 Cor 4:14). The word present portrays the event in which people are presented to stand before a judge.[1] In this case, Paul refers to the future event in which all believers – not just apostles – will stand before the judgment seat of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 5:10). Knowing these things, it is safe to say that just as every believer will be resurrected by Christ and will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, even so every believer should expect to experience suffering for Christ.
Every believer should expect to experience suffering for Christ.
Every believer – including you and me – should learn to follow the examples of the apostle Paul and King David. You should persevere through your suffering, recognizing that you are not suffering through a unique, unprecedented trial; you are sharing your sufferings with Christ and with believers from centuries gone by. You should persevere in faith, believing in God’s greater purpose to use your suffering as a platform to showcase the light of the gospel through your life and especially through your lips. You should learn to speak the truth about Christ throughout your suffering and not be silent.
[1] David E. Garland, 2 Corinthians, vol. 29, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 236.
