At Community group this week, one of our leaders said something that stuck with me: “Paul’s ministry was one of suffering.” That shouldn’t surprise us. In Acts 9:16, God told Ananias that Paul would suffer for His name. Later, in Acts 22-23, Paul explains that he is compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, and that in city after city the Spirit has warned him that prison and hardship await him. He didn’t walk toward suffering blindly; he expected it. And more than that, he considered it a privilege(Philippians 1:29).
Paul had every opportunity to change course. In Acts 21:4, believers urged him not to go. It seems they may have interpreted the Spirit’s warning as a prohibition, allowing their love and fear to shape the message. Paul could have convinced himself that perhaps God had changed His mind, or that the timing wasn’t right. But when. Agabus later confirmed what would happen in Jerusalem, but Paul didn’t see it as a reason to abandon his mission; he saw it as an affirmation. His obedience was anchored in what the Spirit had already made clear.
In this, Paul mirrors Jesus. As Jesus entered Jerusalem, He knew the cross awaited Him. His suffering was not accidental; it was His mission. He left the glory of Heaven to live a life of love, obedience, and sacrifice, fully aware it would lead to death on our behalf.
Paul followed that example, but he did not do so in his own strength. In 2 Corinthians 12, he speaks of a thorn in his flesh, something he pleaded with the Lord to remove. God’s response was not deliverance, but grace: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul concludes, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paul was not superhuman. He did not become a perfect follower overnight. He was a man who knew his weakness and learned to depend fully on Christ. The thorn remained, not to harm him, but to keep him reliant.
What thorns have you begged God to remove that may actually be His grace, drawing you into deeper dependence on Him? What if the hardship you want taken away is the very thing strengthening your obedience?
Today, I feel led to close with the prayer Jesus taught us:
Our Father, who art in Heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
Thy Kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom,
the power and the glory,
forever and ever.
Amen.