He will deliver us again.

He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

2 Corinthians 1:10

It may get difficult when we follow Jesus. In fact, Paul seems to expect that whatever “affliction” he experienced in Asia (1 Corinthians 1:8), was a direct result of his commitment to preach the gospel and could happen again. We do know from the book of Acts that opposition and rioting accompanied Paul all throughout his ministry in Asia (see Acts 19 for the account). What is interesting is how it affected Paul personally. Look at these descriptions in 1 Corinthians 1:8-9:

• He was “utterly burdened”.
• The trial was “beyond” Paul’s strength. He felt powerless.
• Paul despaired of life. That’s right, he wanted to just die. That is severe.
• Paul felt the “sentence of death”… a feeling of impending doom.

All of those feelings would send Paul in trust to his knees. Sadly today, if he told a church leader he felt this way, most wouldn’t feel equipped to talk to him and would instead suggest a therapist or a check-in at a mental health provider to deal with his massive “depression”. But God had all the resources Paul needed in order to get through the trial and the storm of feelings that came up within him.

Paul relied on God, whose power raises the dead. And though he felt emotionally dead in the affliction, it was the power of Christ that delivered him. The deadly peril was something God could end. And Paul was delivered. What’s more, Paul believed that in any difficulty God would deliver him again. And that faith in the fact of a delivering, raising God kept gospel ministry solidly advancing despite repeated hardship.

So no matter what we face, God can be trusted. We may feel “burdened” in a trial. God will bear it. We may feel stretched beyond our strength. God is all powerful still. We may despair of the pain of living. God will raise what feels dead to us. We must trust Him, especially during our hardest feelings.