II Corinthians 1

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."  II Corinthians 1:3-4

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ.  And so through Him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God.  Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.  He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."  II Corinthians 1:20-22


Have you ever wondered why life does not always go according to our best laid plans and wishes? Have you ever wondered why God sometimes allows difficult circumstances in our lives?  The main reason there are problems in the world and in our lives is because of sin.  Sin has disrupted God's world and is the ultimate source behind all the problems we experience in this world.  God, however, often uses difficult circumstances in our lives for our good and for His glory.

The first chapter of II Corinthians gives us some clues as to the benefits and reasons for difficult circumstances in our lives as Christians,  Verse three and four of II Corinthians chapter one tells us that God is a compassionate God and that He is our source of comfort.  The Lord is our comfort in difficult times so that we in turn can comfort others with that same comfort we receive from God. Difficult times in our own lives makes us more sensitive to the needs of others.  If we never experienced any difficulties in our lives, we would not be able to comfort others.

Another reason that God allows difficult times in our lives is suggested in II Corinthians 1:9b. When speaking of trials that Paul had experienced in his own life Paul said, "But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God."  When all is going smoothly in our lives we have a tendency to become smug and complacent.  We begin to think that we are self-sufficient. Difficult times makes us realize that we must depend on the Lord's strength alone.  God's grace and strength is all-sufficient, and our weakness is the perfect opportunity for His power to be displayed.  Difficult times causes us to "set our hope" on the Lord for our strength and deliverance II Corinthians 1:10b).  The Lord must become our only source of confidence.

Yet another reason for difficult times is our lives is suggested in II Corinthians 1:11.  Difficult times causes us to seek the Lord in prayer in a deeper way.  Difficult times cause us to come to the Lord in prayer for our needs and the needs of others.  This in turn results in us seeing God's awesome answers to prayer in our lives and in the lives of others.

No matter what circumstances come our way we can count on God's precious promises to always be with us.  II Corinthians 1:20-22 tells us, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'yes' in Christ. And so through Him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God.  Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.  He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

We can be sure of God's promises to always be with us!  We belong to the Lord for time and for eternity!  His Holy Spirit is in our hearts guaranteeing us an eternal presence with the Lord! Because of the Holy Spirit in our hearts we can "stand firm" in our faith no matter what the circumstances in our lives.  We can do this, because we know we serve a faithful and all-wise God!