The Challenges We Face
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“But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
Paul faced many challenges in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul wrote that when he came to Macedonia, “our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within” (2 Corinthians 7:5). “I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:27-29).
While I cannot claim to have suffered as did the apostle Paul, I do know about sleepless nights far from home and the daily pressure of concern for all the churches. My travels and connections keep me in constant contact with many brethren far and near. I mourn when I hear of church closures or church splits. I mourn churches falling away from the truth into lawless ways.
Batsell Barrett Baxter wrote, “The challenges which face us are enormous. But when we consider that one life is saved for Christ is worth all the efforts, all the heartbreak, all the trials that make our task difficult, then we cheerfully take up these challenges.”
We must return to and focus on Scripture. The word of God is the truth that sanctifies us (John 17:17). It is our standard and pattern for the Christian life. Paul wrote, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13).
Phil Sanders