“Therefore seeing that we have this ministry, as we have received…but we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down but not destroyed.”
(2 Cor. 4:1-10)
- Troubled (afflict, suffer tribulation)
- Distressed (feeling or showing extreme unhappiness or pain, suffering that affects the mind or body, worried)
- Perplexed (be at a lost mentally, stand in doubt)
- Despair (to be utterly at a loss; the complete lost or absent of hope. To no longer have any hope or belief that a situation will improve or change)
- Persecute (hostility and ill-treatment; to treat someone cruelty or unfair)
- Forsaken (to leave, abandon)
- Cast down (throw down)
- Destroyed (die, perish, put an end to the existence; to ruining completely)
Trouble does come, but we are not in distress. We have been perplexed, but we are not in despair. We have been persecuted, but we are not forsaken. And we have been cast down, but we are not destroyed because our hope is in God. So remember when distress, despair, feeling forsaken or destroyed comes your way, always remember that God is on your side no matter the situation; your hope IS IN GOD.
“Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices: my flesh also shall rest in hope.” (Psalm 16:9)