How to Go Through the Worst and Get the Best
“How to Go Through the Worst and Get the Best”
By Pastor Joshua Doumani
July 18, 2021
If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!
2 Corinthians 4:7-12 (MSG)
While we know that Paul was physically frail and a poor communicator, Paul shows us exactly how he embraced weakness and endured suffering all while pressing into God’s power. In this message we are going to learn what kept Paul to keep going through it all. Paul realized a few key truths:
1. What appears successful externally may be total hollowness internally.
In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul compares the Old Covenant and the external glory with the New Covenant and the internal glory. Often, we think about God as if he is angry with us as soon as we sin, make a mistake, or mess up. We cannot earn our keep, place, or righteousness with Jesus. When we ask ourselves how people can be so legalistic, self-righteous, or prideful, the answer is that they are still living under the Old Covenant, believing that that is how they can gain favor with God.
The Law of God, the Old Covenant, is the “what,” and the Grace of God, the New Covenant, is the “how.” The Law of God reveals sin. The Grace of God forgives sin. The Law of God indicates man's problems, but the Grace of God provides God’s remedy. The Law of God demands performance by man, but the Grace of God offers provision from God. The Law of God tells us the character of God, but the Grace of God reproduces that character in us. The Law of God is the effect that God wants to see, but the Grace of God is the cause that brings forth that effect.
God’s law tells us the perfection that the Father desires, but only God’s grace is sufficient to carry out that transformation in us. Often we try to manipulate our behavior to conform to the law, but at a certain point, we hit a wall because it isn’t working. This is because God isn’t interested in our behavior modification; God is interested in our heart transformation.
Most of our parents set up a system where there was reward and punishment, and often we project that onto God. We believe that if we follow the rules, he will love us more, so we manipulate our behavior. When we were kids and our parents would tell us not to do something, as soon as they weren’t there, we would do it because we didn’t buy into the fact that they knew what was best for us. The difference is that God does know what’s best for us, but he also understands that before there is internal change, the external behavior modification will only be temporary.
In order to get out of the cycle of behavior manipulation, we must allow God to inwardly transform us. He does the work; we just need to be open and cooperate with him. He wants to change our understanding of him, which will change the way we think of ourselves, and will ultimately result in godly behavior. He doesn’t want to attempt to change our outward behavior without transforming our thinking (Romans 12:2).
As we allow the Holy Spirit to work inside of us, we start to develop a perspective that aligns with God’s. We start to develop an awareness of the behavior that we want to change. Until we start to value what he values, our behavior will never change. Until we realize that God loves us on the inside, that truth will not be reflected on the outside.
2. Our weakness is a breeding ground for God to show up.
In 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, Paul addresses the church and compares them to jars of clay. These were very cheap, fragile, and useless jars. In a modern context, they would be like Tupperware. When we have it all together, there is no glory to give to God. It is in our weakness that he is made strong. This is why Jesus uses broken people because that is how he gets the most glory. We don’t have it all, and we have to be okay with acknowledging that we don’t have it all. Despite that, God can still use us.
3. God already took account of the mistakes that he made, and he loved him anyway.
In 2 Corinthians 4:2, Paul encourages us not to live your life in secret because it will only result in shame and condemnation. How much shame must Paul have felt? He was killing Christians, and he had to carry all of that guilt and shame with him every single day. Don’t we do the same thing, telling ourselves all the things we have done wrong, why people don’t love us, and why God doesn’t love us? In 1 John 4:18, we learn that perfect love drives out fear. Shame comes from us, not from God.
Here is the reality: either God will rescue us, or Satan will torment us. Our cover-ups, deceit, and lies become a playground for the enemy, and he works in our cycle of dysfunction. He is the one who stirs up shame by telling us lies about who we are. Paul encourages us to be transparent and not allow shame.
4. Where there is infinite disappointment, there is infinite hope.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul opens with “do not lose heart,” but then he goes on to tell us a lot of things that might cause us to lose heart. It can be difficult not to lose heart. When things are easy, it’s not hard to have faith, but in seasons that are more difficult, it becomes harder to keep the faith. It’s in those harder seasons when we see people walk away from God. When we don’t see the answer to what we are praying and believing for, we can start to lose hope.
Even in hard seasons, what we see around us or in front of us does not negate the fact that God is still on the throne and that he is faithful. Paul, in the midst of all of his turmoil, learned how to take his eyes off of what was in front of him, and think about how God had used him to change the lives of others, and that became his hope. Our hope is not in this world or in this life, but in Jesus, and in God’s eternal purpose for us. No matter what we are going through, God can show up, and he can do a miracle.
Reflection/Discussion Questions:
1. Are there any areas of your life where you find yourself trying to live up to the standard of the Law and the Old Covenant? How can you receive God’s grace and be intentional about living under the New Covenant in this area?
2. What internal change is God making in you that will impact your external reality or behavior?
3. How have you seen God get glory from your weakness or your areas of lack in the past?
4. How can you cultivate faith and hope for any challenges that you may be facing in this season?
