| Believer: | How's ministry going Paul? |
|---|---|
| Paul: | We are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus sake. |
| Believer: | Wow. That sounds dangerous. A little risky. How you handling that? |
| Paul: | We are keeping on, keeping on. We are not becoming discouraged. |
| Believer: | You are not? How can that be? It sounds pretty tough. Look at the difficulties you are experiencing. |
| Paul: | It is true, our bodies are having a rough time of it. You look at us from the outside and it's going to look like things are getting worse and worse, actually. But if you could see us from the inside out, you would see our inner man is getting stronger day by day. |
| Believer: | That's great Paul. I am glad that you are growing, but I am just wondering how you are able to handle the amount of suffering you are experiencing without giving up? |
| Paul: | Well, really the suffering I am experience is a small thing. |
| Believer: | Small thing. No, no, no, Paul. How can you say that? Beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, thrown in prison, doesn't sound small to me. |
| Paul: | You have to look at in perspective. For one thing, look at what it is producing for us. The suffering I am experiencing right now is doing something. It is producing an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond all comparison. But let me try to compare it for a second. My suffering is momentary the glory I will receive eternal. The suffering I am enduring is light when you try to compare it to the glory I am going to experience. Looking at my suffering in comparison to my future glory, it is momentary and light and not a reason for losing heart. |
| Believer: | Wow. I wish I could be like that. How do you live that out though? I know about that glory but it doesn't always give me the kind of courage it is giving you. |
| Paul: | You need to take some action. Look, we are making a practice of not looking at the things which are seen, but we are taking our eyes and focusing them on the things that are not seen because the things that we see are just for a little while and the thing that are not seen are forever. |
