We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to Himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
2 Corinthians 4:8-15
What to do with our struggles? That is the question. We all have them to one degree or another. I am very aware at this moment of the struggles of a number of our friends, three of whom are facing the giant of cancer. Now that is a big struggle. What do you do when you face troubles on every side as Paul said in the verses above. Then he proceeds to list some of them. Having a sound understanding of the way God works and His purpose in using the principle of brokenness gives us insight as to how to cope with suffering. So many Christians these days want to outlaw suffering. They say, “Suffering is not for us who believe in Jesus.” They need a correct understanding of how 2 Cor 4:7 goes with 2 Cor 4:8-15.
More next Gem on that one. Take some time to think about Paran and the Ostraca first. What is the connection between suffering and troubles and the Ostraca? But in meantime let’s take a side trip to Paran.
Why did I “go off to Paran”? Allow me to insert the explanation from Gem 14.
Now in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony; and the sons of Israel set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. So they moved out for the first time according to the commandment of the LORD through Moses.
Numbers 10:11-13
Interesting isn’t it? We know they were LED by the presence of God by cloud.
“Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.”
Exodus 40:36-38
When the cloud stopped they stopped; when the cloud moved they moved. It couldn’t have been clearer. Wow I wish I was led like that you say.
Hang on a minute. Let’s take note of some things.
- After Sinai they went to Taberah
- From Taberah to Kibroth-Hattaavah
- From Kibroth-Hattaavah to Hazeroth
- From Hazeroth to Kadesh Barnea in the Desert of Paran.
All those names mean something. We will only take note of the last one. I have included them all to give you some food for thought.
They find themselves in Kadesh Barnea in the Desert of Paran. Remember the cloud has led them here. It was the very place they didn’t want to be but the place God chose for them.
The name Kadesh Barnea means holy place of Barnea, which is found the midst of the Desert of Paran.
Would it surprise you to know that Paran [ פארן ] is an archaic noun from the verb para’ פראן] which means to endow with glory? Wow think about that. This place, called the holy place of Barnea where they stopped for some years, is located in the desert of Paran. It is so called because it was the place where God intended to endow them with glory.
“It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.”
Deuteronomy 1:2
“Now the time that it took for us to come from Kadesh-Barnea until we crossed over the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.”
Deuteronomy 2:14
Wow that is interesting. They spent 38 years in and around Kadesh Barnea. Seemingly in this holy place of Barnea it was God’s intention to endow them with glory in the midst of the desert of Paran. But they just didn’t learn the lesson. Do you realise that it is God’s intention to fill you with His glory in the hard places but so often we miss the lesson? We want out of the hard situations. Our God is the one who turns death into life, who conquers the grave, who turns defeat to victory. It is in the desert of Paran that you find the mountain of God and He endows you with glory in the holy place. But think about it! The Israelites left Horeb, the Mountain of God, the place of Glory and travelled to Kadesh Barnea in the Desert of Paran. In other words they went from the place of glory to another place where the glory was to dwell within them. We are all on a journey from Glory to Glory. From one degree of glory to another to the point where we are indwell with God’s glory. (2 Cor 3:18)
God wants to strip the outer layers away. He wants to break the outer casing to reveal the precious genuine inner core. But it is the very thing we resist. He intends it for our good and His glory but we shrink back and refuse to let Him break us. The inner core can’t be revealed unless it is broken.
Re-read this passage (2 Cor 4:8-15) and think of what Paul has already said. Paul is not introducing a new theme. Rather he is continuing the same thread he began in chapter two. Go back and re-read the related Gems again and then put it all together. I have told you over and over the Word of God is deep; but you don’t realise how deep it is.
That the POTTER should die for His CLAY is a stupendous miracle.
L. Landrum
He went into hell, came out with the lock and keys and announced, ‘I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. He is your example.
Bob Gass