We Can Press On!

“We Can Press On!”

By Zach Wood

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

This past week, I had the privilege of serving at our church camp for 4^th grade week of camp.  I led the music and one of the songs was “Trading My Sorrows”.  Each time we sang this song, when we came to the part where Paul talks about struggles and pain to the church in Corinth, those words just really stuck out to me. 

In life, it’s no surprise that we tend to get knocked down a lot from different things that happen to us and around us.  We are affected by a lot of negative things, whether they happen to people around us and stir us up emotionally or if we are directly affected and we get hurt both physically and emotionally.  I am encouraged by Paul as he describes how we get discouraged and broken down, but that we are not completely hopeless or destroyed.  We have strength in the Lord to get up and keep on going.

Maybe you are reading this devotional and this is hitting home with you.  Perhaps you are tired and frustrated from your daily life and all the struggles going on around you and you don’t feel you have the strength to carry on.  We all get very discouraged throughout our lives.  What’s important is to remember we are never, ever alone.  Many others have gone through frustrations and have worked through them.

It would be wise for us to hold onto these important words from the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth that when we are shaken up and beaten down by the world, we are not destroyed.  Christ will pick us up if we reach out to Him and allow Him to get us back up on our feet to continue our walk in the faith.  It’s often hard to get back up and have the confidence and stamina to continue, but with Christ, we can do it.