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Pain and Suffering Is No Excuse to Quit Moving Forward

Hidden Nuggets Series #34 – “To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with our hands…” I Corinthians 4:11-12

moving forwardIf you are a regular reader of the Bible, then you know sometimes verses or passages speak a message to you at just the right time. It’s as though the words literally jump off the page into your life. It’s truly interesting how often that happens, almost like God planned it that way.

The more I read about the Apostle Paul, the faster he is becoming my hero. Here we have a man who persecuted the early church, who turns believer in Jesus, and then goes on to travel the known world as an evangelist. Along the way, he starts churches and converts thousands to Christianity. All the while though, he faces tremendous opposition from the religious traditionalists and from local authorities who didn’t appreciate how his preaching was touching the hearts of the people.

On multiple occasions he was beaten and thrown in prison. One time he was stoned and left for dead, an incident that many think caused him to suffer partial blindness the rest of his life. In the verses I listed above from I Corinthians, we learn he was often hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed and homeless.

This doesn’t sound like a picture perfect life. Yet, despite the pain and suffering his life and ministry dealt out, what do we see him doing?

Continuing to work, laboring with his hands.

Paul Kept Moving Forward

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