The Good LifeSample

When God brought Paul into His family, Ananias was doubtful: Paul was notorious for persecuting God’s followers, yet God told Ananias to go and lay his hands on Paul to restore his sight. God’s command to Ananias was clear, and so was His proclamation He shared with Ananias—Paul’s life following Jesus was not going to be easy. And it wasn’t. The litany of hardships Paul endured while traveling the world proclaiming God’s love was brutal. In one of his letters, Paul shared some of what he had endured, from imprisonment to beatings to a shipwreck. He shared: “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one” (2 Corinthians 11:24). Thirty-nine lashes were known to be one shy of a death blow. Some scholars even claim Paul walked with a limp because he had been beaten so many times. Why did Paul endure such brutal hardship? Paul knew there was no greater treasure than God’s Kingdom, and it was worth giving his life for. Paul gave everything so more and more people could know about God and His great love. We can only imagine the welcome Paul will receive in heaven. And we’ll all get to meet him, too. Paul is a prime example of a great servant of God.