2 Corinthians 1:9
“But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:”
When you think of a death sentence, you think of a criminal sitting on death row who has no hope. The only thing they have to look forward to is the day when their life will be taken from them for the crime they committed. This has to be a very heavy life to live. When you think of a death sentence, you think of finality.
Paul shows that when the Christian faces a death sentence that it is just the beginning of life. When Paul came to Asia, he was carrying a heavy burden that he thought was too heavy to bear. It came to the point in his life when he felt he was going to die; however, it was at that point when he found life. When he was at the point where he thought he would die, he realized he could not put his trust in himself but in God.
This is the whole purpose of God increasing the load of suffering upon the Christian. We like to stay in control of our lives. We like to think that we can work everything out ourselves. So God continues to increase the pressure on us until we feel like we are going to die. God does this so that we will let go of the controls of our lives and completely trust Him to guide us through our trials. It is when we stop trusting ourselves and start trusting God that we find the delivery we need from whatever heartache we face.
Years ago when I was a boy, my mother would ask me to open a jar that she could not open. I would pick up that jar as if I were some bodybuilder to show her how much strength I had only to struggle with it. My father would ask if I wanted his help, but in my stubbornness I would tell him I could get it myself. He would sit there and watch me try every conceivable way to open the jar. When I finally realized that I could not open the jar and that he could, I brought it over to him and asked him to open it for me. He would then open the jar and hand it back to me so that I could bring it to my mother for her to finish cooking supper.
Is that what you are doing with your trials? Are you trying to work everything out yourself? You have to understand that God will not impose Himself on you, but He will increase the load you are carrying to the point where you realize you are helpless. You can continue to be stubborn and try to work it out yourself, or you can give in and trust God to take control of your situation and be delivered from the pressure of your trials.
My friend, God wants to help you with whatever you are facing today. Do you feel like the pressure is going to cause you to explode? Do you feel like what you are carrying is to heavy to carry? Do you feel like you are about ready to die? Then let me encourage you to stop trusting yourself and your ability to work through it and trust God. He is the only One Who can deliver you at this point. You can either continue on facing the pressure alone, or you can hand it over to Him and let Him deliver you. It is your choice!
Surrender to His help today. Cast it upon Him today. You will find the release of pressure happens when you give it to God and let Him perform His will through your life.