above the storm

 

Between 2012 and 2020 I led teams from our church to Albania on 11 separate occasions. The flight path often followed the same route through central Europe and down the Adriatic coast to Tirana, Albania’s capital. On one such flight I recall looking out of the window to a sea of cloud many hundreds of feet beneath us. It did not take me long to realise that a storm was raging within those clouds. Huge flashes of lightening lit up the otherwise ethereal scene.

I had never experienced that perspective of a storm before (or have since). I have only every been at ground level in the midst of gales, loud peels of thunder and flashes of lightening.

Over the last week I have read and re-read Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. It is a difficult, yet beautifully crafted pastoral letter. With touching honesty and vulnerability, Paul addresses the reality of Christian service. He writes with a deep sense of what it means to serve Christ in a broken and fractured world, within an imperfect and faltering church.

The wonder of this letter is that Paul is able to simultaneously view the challenges of his ministry from the perspective of life above the storm and life in the midst of the storm. He is therefore able reassure and encourage us in our service for God.

From the vantage point of life above the storm, I imagine Paul looking down on the difficulties of his ministry and discerning:

The true character of God

He is, to Paul… 

…the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…

…the Father of compassion…

…the God of all comfort… (2 Cor. 1:3)

…faithful… (1:18)

…generous… (9:15)

Because of these truths, and more, the Lord deserves the devotion of our lives. When Paul reflects on these attributes of God his heart is moved in worship (1:3; 11:30). Our service for God will be enriched immeasurably if we ponder the true character of God.

Paul is able, secondly, to perceive:

The real nature of Christian service 

The real nature of Christian service is rooted in what God, in his grace, has done in us and what he is able, in that same grace, to do through us. Therefore, the key question is not, “What can I do for God?”, but rather, “How shall I then live that God can work through me?”

As Paul so succinctly puts it,

He anointed us (we are called by God and set apart for his service),

set his seal of ownership on us (we belong to God),

and put his Spirit in our hearts (we are equipped by God). See 1:21,22

With this outlook on ministry gleaned above the storm, Paul is able to continue to serve God in the crucible of ministry. 

He affirms in the midst of the storm, “we do not lose heart” (4:1). If we missed that affirmation, he repeats it again, “WE DO NOT LOSE HEART” (4:16). 

Paul was very much aware of his inadequacy (2:16) but running parallel to that was the fact that he had set his hope in Christ (1:10), found his competence in God (3:5) and rooted his confidence in Gospel (4:7). 

Take heart. Stand on Paul’s shoulders (this giant of the faith) and from that vantage point grasp hold of the truth with which he concludes his letter - “(the Lord) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (12:9).

(I took the above picture in the city of Shkodër, Albania in 2018 🇦🇱)