| SUFFERING BUT STILL CARING Do you notice the words Paul used in these verses to describe his experiences? Troubles, sufferings, distress, hardships, pressure, despair and deadly peril - that is quite a list. We are not told the various situations Paul was referring to but it underlines the undeniable fact that Christians can and do suffer. Paul certainly did, for Christ's sake. Why do Christians suffer? There are many reasons. Here Paul states (v.4) that one purpose of suffering in a Christian worker's (or in any Christian's) life is to make him or her able to comfort others. The hymn-writer Fanny Crosby told how a doctor mistakenly placed the wrong medication in her eyes when she was very young. Later Fanny Crosby said, "That error was one of the great sorrows of his life. It may have been a blunder on his part, but it was no mistake on God's. I really believe it was God's intention that I should live my days in physical darkness so as to be better prepared to sing His praises and help others to do so." What had suffering and pressure done to Paul? Verse 9 tells us that it had driven him back to God. He had learned to rely on Him and not on himself. It had increased his faith in God. If God could bring him through those experiences, God could bring him through anything (v.1 0). In the same way every experience should strengthen our faith in God and in His promises. Faith must not be based on experience alone. It must rest firmly on God and on His Word. Notice also that Paul acknowledged (v.11) the help of his friends' prayers. He often spoke of what they meant to him. Is there someone in need for whom you should be praying? Why not remember them today? Your prayer may be the means under God's hand for their encouragement or their deliverance. Do it today. WHO ARE YOU PRAYING FOR TODAY? | 
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