The One Year Men of the Bible: 365 Meditations

Vance Havner, a twentieth-century preacher and writer, once reported that, of the 318 delegates who attended the Nicene Council (an important church meeting of the fourth century), fewer than twelve had no visible evidence of persecution or torture. One had a missing eye, another a crippled hand, and yet another a noticeable limp. All had suffered for their faith. While believers in the Western world currently enjoy relative safety from most severe forms of persecution, followers of Christ during the first three or four centuries after Christ’s death and resurrection commonly faced the loss of property, livelihood, health, and even their lives.

The apostle Paul had firsthand knowledge of these things. Paul did much of his writing from a prison cell and endured many arrests, beatings, imprisonments, threats against his life, and other hardships, solely on account of his loyalty to Christ. He never complained, and he claimed to actually take pleasure in those things. Pleasure in suffering? If you knew someone who claimed to enjoy suffering, you would probably advise—maybe even beg—that person to get help. But Paul gave a specific reason for his pleasure in suffering for the name of Christ: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Paul didn’t enjoy suffering for suffering’s sake. He knew that his suffering wouldn’t last forever and that God had prepared something far better for him. He also understood that in the context of eternity, his suffering would last but a moment, while the glory to come would last forever. God can use the difficult things in your life to build endurance and maturity into your faith. He can also use those things to remind you of your own weakness and bring you to a point of complete dependence on him.

Bell, James Stuart. The One Year Men of the Bible: 365 Meditations on the Character of Men and Their Connection to the Living God (One Year Books) (p. 81). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. 

Bell, James Stuart. The One Year Men of the Bible: 365 Meditations on the Character of Men and Their Connection to the Living God (One Year Books) (pp. 80-81). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.