“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”   ( John 16:33).

Speaking of trouble, few have experienced as much as Apostle Paul. Called by God to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles, he faced all manner of hardships and set backs.

Paul narrates in 2 Cor 24- 26, “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers..” In spite of all Paul kept moving. He never lost faith and went on to build many churches in areas where his ministry took him.

Paul’s strength was based on the knowledge that, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”         ( Romans 8:28). God enabled Paul accomplish his tasks by providing him resources, protecting him when as needed, and leading him on to his destiny. For instance one time while being pursued, “his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall” ( Acts 9:25).

So, today, any of us could be in the middle of storms. But take comfort for Christ has overcome! For there is victory ahead: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” ( 2 Tim 4:7).

Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I rise confident that there is no challenge beyond me, which you have not overcome, through faith in you, this I pray in Jesus’ name.