"AFFLICTED; NOT DESERTED" (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 9/22/26

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” (II Corinthians 4:8-10)

As believers, we are afflicted wherever we go; always sure to meet with trouble of one kind or another. That’s just the straw Paul’s readers drew. Wherever the devout are in the world, tribulation is to be expected as they’re never free from one trial or another. Sometimes, even the most dedicated “bible-thumpers” don’t know what to do, where to go, or when they’ll find relief. Indeed, all too often in this life, believers are at a complete loss about things temporal and even struggling with perplexing thoughts, doubts, and fears. But hope is not gone. Paul reassures Corinth that they still have a way of escape. They still can and should be comforted by the manifestations of the love of God. Notwithstanding all their troubles, the saints have security in Christ and should not despair because God is in their corner, providing help and deliverance.

God allows His people to suffer along the way by being persecuted for their beliefs, but He keeps them from ever being fully destroyed. They will be targeted by the enemies of Christ to be mistreated (in Paul’s day, this included: Jewish religious leaders, Roman authorities, etc). However, Paul insists that even in their most severe persecution, God has never forsaken them; He has and will always be with them through the worst, keeping them from being crushed or totally despairing. Paul adds that they have even been struck down under persecution. For example, he had on at least one occasion been left for dead, but God had not yet allowed this servant of His to be destroyed because his work was not done. So, Paul continues the mission to carry the treasure of the gospel to all who will receive it.

Scripture explains clearly that those who carry the gospel are just fragile vessels that contain a powerful truth, which is, ultimately, God's power, not their own, that keeps them going in the mission to take the gospel to the world. Paul was exposed to great peril and thus had the stripes and marks of punishment and persecution to prove it, which showed that he was exposed to similar violence that the Lord Jesus endured. He was persecuted and labeled a ‘wicked man’, a ‘deceiver’, and a ‘stirrer up of sedition’, just like Christ. As He was persecuted, so His followers will be.

All of our sufferings in life have the same end: that the life of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies. This means that we reflect the death of our Savior in His physical, earthly body, which was crushed to pay for the sin of humanity. However, our suffering is lighter in comparison to His. We are spared from being crushed to show the life and power of Jesus in us. Believers don’t proclaim themselves or carry the message in their own power. We proclaim Christ even in our own weakness and suffering to show His power in and through us. True followers are sometimes perplexed, persecuted, and struck down, but are never abandoned or destroyed. They continue to carry the gospel to all who will hear. Christians in this world will be afflicted and beset with grief, but when things like that happen, know that you are not alone. Jesus, who knows what it is to suffer, is begging you to rely on Him. Even if it seems like the walls are crumbling around you, you have not been deserted.