{"id":4087,"date":"2016-09-28T09:40:43","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T14:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/?p=4087"},"modified":"2017-03-16T08:37:15","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T13:37:15","slug":"far-beyond-our-ability-to-endure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/christian-encouragement\/far-beyond-our-ability-to-endure\/","title":{"rendered":"Far Beyond Our Ability to Endure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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One of my favorite persons in the bible is Paul. His story, his journey\u2026 is beyond encouraging. He is someone that understood the struggles and hardships of the Christian life. He used his sufferings and moments of despair as a means to encourage others. I’m so thankful to God for using Paul through the word. In particular, I love the passage in 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 because both you and I can learn and be greatly encouraged\u00a0from it. \u00a0A few things stick out to me.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe 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. 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. 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\u2026\u201d<\/em>-2 Cor 1: 8-10<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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1) In verse 8 Paul states, \u201cWe were under GREAT<\/strong> pressure<\/em> FAR<\/strong> beyond<\/em> OUR ABILITY<\/strong> to endure<\/em>.\u201d This lets me know that even<\/span> Paul experienced moments where he felt that he could not endure. He felt he couldn’t take what was presently happening to him. He believed it to be\u00a0far beyond “his ability.”<\/strong> Have you ever experienced anything in your life that allows you to relate to Paul? Have you ever felt as though you couldn\u2019t take any more of what you were going through?<\/p>\n

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2) In verse 9 he states, “In our hearts, WE FELT<\/strong> we had received this sentence of death.” Paul even felt that he knew he was going to die<\/em> or that it was the end<\/strong>. He was convinced<\/em> in his mind<\/span> that it was over.\u00a0Have you ever felt like that, maybe not physically, but emotionally? Have you ever felt as though your situation was hopeless? That it is the end for you?<\/p>\n

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3)\u00a0As verse 9 continues\u2026he went on to say, \u201cBUT<\/strong> this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but RELY<\/strong> on<\/strong> GOD.<\/strong>\u201d Paul understood that what he was experiencing was happening for a reason<\/em><\/strong>. The greatness<\/span> of his despair<\/em> is what caused him to rely on God and not on himself. He realized in the midst of his trial that this is where God always wanted him to be, totally dependent on Him.\u00a0<\/strong> Has the greatness of your distress ever caused you to depend on the only one who is dependable? Or are you still trying to rely on your own strength?<\/p>\n

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4) Verse 10, “He HAS DELIVERED<\/strong> us from such a deadly peril and He WILL DELIVER<\/strong> us.\u201d This lets me know that Paul testified about God’s past<\/em> deliverance<\/em> therefore he was confident<\/span> in his current distress that God would without doubt<\/strong> deliver him from this one.\u00a0Take time to travel down your spiritual memory lane<\/em> and ask yourself, what has God delivered you from in the past? If you know God has delivered you in past times, do you believe<\/strong> He has the power to deliver you from your current situation?<\/p>\n

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5) Verse 10 goes on to say, “On HIM<\/strong> we have set OUR HOPE<\/strong> that he WILL CONTINUE<\/strong> to deliver us!\u201d \u00a0Paul realized that his hope was not<\/span> in himself or his circumstance but in<\/em> God.<\/strong> And because of this hope he was confident in God’s future deliverance in his life. He knew that no matter what he faced God WILL<\/strong> continue to deliver him.\u00a0Have you set your hope in God or on your circumstance? Do you believe he will continue to deliver you no matter what you go through?<\/p>\n

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This passage has helped me realize in the midst of what I’m going through there will be moments where it feels as though I can’t endure anymore. You and I will go through moments like that.<\/p>\n

The pain we feel may be so great it appears unbearable.<\/span><\/h4>\n

The grief may feel like it is so sorrowful,<\/span><\/h4>\n

that it is beyond our ability to endure it.<\/span><\/h4>\n

The loss may be so great it appears that nothing can replace it.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Although we may “feel”<\/strong> like that, it is God who has allowed<\/em> things to press<\/strong>, weigh<\/strong>, upon us so greatly in order that He may teach<\/span> us not to rely on our own<\/em> strength but on His.<\/strong> Our trials in life always causes us to end up exactly where God wants us to be; at His throne in need of His strength. This passage has also helped me realize that God’s past deliverance<\/em> can build confidence<\/span> for our current hardships<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When I reflect over everything I have been through and see the amazing hand of God over it, it encourages me to remember God’s love for us and His constant presence in our life. We can be confident that God has the power<\/strong> to deliver us this VERY moment<\/strong> from any adverse circumstance. If we are experiencing a moment of discouragement, God’s power has the ability to raise us up out of our sadness and completely deliver us! \u00a0This passage also reminds me that as long as my hope stays in God I can live life in hopeful expectation knowing that I will experience the deliverance of God over and over again.<\/strong> How encouraging it is to know, that even when life feels like it\u2019s beyond \u201cour ability\u201d to endure, because of God\u2019s love for us, His power, and His ability, we WILL<\/strong> be able to endure.<\/p>\n

HE<\/strong> supplies<\/span> us with endurance<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Glory to His name!<\/p>\n

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In love,<\/h5>\n
Ashley Moneet<\/h5>\n
Fearless. Faithful. Following.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my favorite persons in the bible is Paul. His story, his journey\u2026 is beyond encouraging. He is someone that understood the struggles and hardships of the Christian life. He used his sufferings and moments of despair as a means to encourage others. I’m so thankful to God for using Paul through the word. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[35],"tags":[62,110,63,65,146,66,107,70,78,101],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4087"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4327,"href":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087\/revisions\/4327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.f3ashley.com\/2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}