A family once met at their new glass-top dining room table for New Year’s dinner. The family, very proud of their new table, placed all the hot dishes they had prepared in the center and sat down to eat. No more than five minutes into their meal, there arose a loud pop. The heat from the freshly cooked dishes had split the glass top in two; now, the delicious dinner lay ruined on the floor.
It is not the most fantastic way to start the New Year, but God never promised a life free from hardships; He did promise to go with us through the hard junctures. Of course, a broken table and ruined dinner are nothing compared to the apostle Paul’s hardships.
Perhaps you have endured hardship after hardship. Maybe the New Year has brought even more pain than the prior. Please understand nearly two thousand years later, God continues to use imperfect people and their life experiences, both happy and sad, to proclaim His gospel message. Why? So, His “thanksgiving may be increased” (4:15). When looking at Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:13-15 it becomes clear how we can start the New Year aiming for God to receive an ever-growing thanksgiving.
Main Text: 2 Corinthians 4:13-15