Devotional Reading Plan

Paul’s Suffering in Prison: 2 Corinthians 1:8

Throughout his long ministry, Paul often suffered greatly. He was repeatedly whipped, beaten with rods, and hunted by assassins. He was imprisoned many times and once he was even stoned and left for dead. And he did not always bear up well under these hardships. At times, he was depressed, even despairing. For instance, during his third missionary journey, he wrote these words in 2 Corinthians 1:8:

We 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 (2 Corinthians 1:8).

Here, Paul described his feeling of being defeated, of temporarily losing hope because of the terrible conditions and circumstances he endured.

Paul knew that life is never truly hopeless, that God is able to rescue us from any trouble. But he was also a human being; he had weaknesses just like ours. And the truth is that sometimes knowing and trusting in God’s sovereignty isn’t enough to keep us from despair. Even Paul struggled. Even Paul wanted to give up. Even Paul felt abandoned.

And as we read the details of his epistle to the Philippians, it seems that he might have been struggling with similar feelings at the very time he wrote to this church that he loved so dearly. His theology anchored him in the truth, encouraged him that God was working for good, even through suffering. But Paul’s heart was still heavy, and his sorrow was profound.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul did not disclose all of the troubles that weighed on his mind. But he did speak of some of them, and he revealed the collective impact all his troubles were having on his state of mind. For instance, he spoke frequently of death as a welcome relief from his suffering. For example, in Philippians 3:10, he wrote these words:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death (Philippians 3:10).

In this verse, Paul revealed that his present suffering was so great that his best hope for escape was death. And he saw his present sufferings as the means to his death. And in Philippians 1:20, Paul explained his perspective in this way:

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death (Philippians 1:20).

Paul lacked courage at this point, but he hoped that he would gain it before he was tested. His concern was to honor Christ — either by withstanding the test gracefully, or by dying with dignity and resolve, not abandoning his confession of faith. And immediately after this, Paul expressed his desire to die with these words:

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me… I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far (Philippians 1:21-23).

At the time he wrote this, Paul wanted to die. But usually he wanted to live, and to preach — to carry the gospel to new places and peoples, to bring salvation to the world.