Don’t see the audio player? Click here.A friend of Billy Graham once told of walking in on Mr. Graham unexpectedly. He found the evangelist lying face down on the floor, pleading with God to keep him humble and trustworthy. People with this attitude may not be popular, but they are the ones God uses for his highest purposes. In writing to the Corinthians, Paul described his ministry as a treasure in a clay jar. He means that God chose him, a human vessel, to preach the life-changing message of the Gospel. But in doing so, he suffered. He wrote, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but not abandoned by God. All the suffering is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more people, there will be great thanks-giving, and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are renewed every day. Our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them, and will last forever. So we do not look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. Paul’s way of coping with trouble can be a model for us today.
