Death….the road to reliance on God
2 Corinthians 1:9
In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely on God, who raises the dead.
Paul is in the middle of a discussion of the connection between suffering and comfort. Paul suggests that suffering actually leads to comfort and that this is the truth he has experienced in following Jesus. What a weird discovery that doesn’t seem to make sense in our world. How can my suffering be the very thing that leads to comfort? Isn’t suffering the opposite of comfort? But doesn’t it also smell of this upside down empire that is introduced through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Paul then makes this claim in this verse that the reality of facing death was actually a means that led to his reliance on God. Its as if Paul says, “you want to know how to rely on God? Face death and expect death!” Paul comes to the realization when he is facing death that there is nothing he can do to prevent death from occurring. He is helpless; up a creak without a paddle. In this helplessness Paul is pointed to rely on the one who has power over death. He then puts his faith in God the one that can deliver him from death. Hence, in his confrontation with the reality of death he is able to experience a reliance on God that can only come from this realization. Again, this is such a foreign thought to my world where I am constantly taught that I am greater then death. That if I make enough money, have the right job, know the right people….that I will in some way defeat death on my own. Within this lie, I am deceived from the reality that we are all headed in a direct confrontation with death in our lives. When I come to this reality I am able to turn my reliance onto that which has victory over death. If I never come to this reality and live in the lies of the world I continue to rely on myself and sprint straight for the grave. Praise God for that grace that causes me to experience the reality of death which in turns leads to the experience of a reliance on God….the one who delivers me from the grave.
chadpullins@connect2crossroads.com; www.wedesiremore.com
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