Don’t Give Up: Paul

Before meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul hated anyone who believed Jesus was the Messiah. He arrested them, persecuted them, and approved of their deaths.

After discovering the truth, he gave his life to spread the gospel. I would love to tell you everything becomes easy when you give your life to the Lord but that is just not the case. During his life, Paul was whipped five times by the Jews, beaten with rods three times, stoned once, shipwrecked three times, was in danger from bandits, went hungry, was in the cold with no clothing, was bitten by a snake, was arrested multiple times and was chained to a guard around the clock. He wrote in one of his letters to the Corinthians that he worked harder, had been in prison more often, been flogged more severely, and was exposed to death more times than anyone there. Regardless of the tremendous pain and misery he went through, Paul never gave up. He depended on Christ’s power to get him through his trials.

Don’t Give Up.

Are you in the middle of a trial and it just seems too difficult to continue? Those three simple words are for you. Don’t give up. There are going to be days in life where the storm seems too powerful. There are going to be days when you do not know if you can take one more step. Lean on God in these moments. You might think God will not give you more than you can handle but that is not true. What He will give you is the strength to keep going, the power to overcome, and the grace to bring you to everlasting glory. God does not promise there will be no storms, but He does promise to walk through those storms with His arms wrapped tightly around you.