Set Our Hope

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

SET OUR HOPE

2 Cor 1:8-11

8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

NIV

Paul makes a reference to some part of his history that may or may not be recorded. Our scholars are at odds over which time, if any, of the recorded times that Paul had an opposition that was so violent that he thought he would die or feared death because of the greatness of the opposition. Some think it might have been when he was stoned in Lystra, others believe it could have been the uprising started by Demetrius the silversmith in Ephesus. History is fun to explore and contemplate just what Paul was going through and what happened, but the point of all scripture, including this passage, is to correct us, rebuke us, teach us and train us in the path of righteousness. What then can we learn in our lives today and our relationship with God? It certainly appears there is a distinct difference between relying on our own strength or abilities and trusting in our Lord. We think this is to mean in every aspect of our lives. We might get confused about that sometimes and think that God does not micro-manage our lives and allows us to make our own choices regarding our career path, where we live, where we attend church, our future plans, as well as a host of other activities of life. However, we also have seen that Paul waited to go to a certain area, but the Spirit forbit him to go there. No, we think it best to rely on God for every part of our life, in all that we do. When we are in a difficult situation, we think we need to figure a way out, overcome, so to speak. But God is able to deliver us from every situation and His result will always be for our best. Sometimes we make the wrong decision regarding how to fix a problem we are facing and as a result, it might even become worse. We just go from the frying pan into the fire, in that case. But, when we rely on God, when we allow him to do that which he did for us in the past as he delivered us from death, he will deliver us from any trouble that comes our way. Of course, we might be the cause of our trouble and then we need to be corrected, rebuked, taught, and trained. Even then it is God who is doing all that so to deliver us from every trouble. One thing we have learned, we cannot set our hope on ourselves, but we can set our hope in Christ Jesus. We can have a confident expectation in God delivering us, but we must take our eyes off of us and look to God.