Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep. Paul is listing his sufferings as if they were his credentials. Not his accomplishments. His sufferings. The apostolic authority comes not from where he's spoken but where he's suffered.
I'm a missionary who's been talking for three years about the difficulty of my work. But I've kept quiet about the actual suffering. The confusion, the failure, the cultural alienation, the moments when I've wondered if I'm even making a difference. I've been ashamed of the suffering, thinking it indicates I'm not doing something right. But Paul suggests that's the point. The suffering is the evidence that I'm actually in the work.
Not that I should suffer unnecessarily. But the fact that I'm suffering means I'm being stretched beyond my comfort. I'm encountering resistance. I'm encountering limits. That's where transformation happens. For years, I was impressed by missionaries who seemed happy all the time. Now I'm suspicious. Paul's authority comes not from ease but from adversity faced and survived. I'm learning to see my suffering not as a sign of failure but as a mark of genuine engagement.
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