.”Now I rejoice in what I am suffering” Paul in Colossians 1:24 (NIV)
It is obscene to link the words “suffering” and “rejoicing”. Those two words are in direct antithesis. Oil and water not only should not be mixed, but in a certain estimation, cannot be mixed. No word causes greater questions than the issue of suffering. What a small word, but what a universe of meaning.
When Paul uses the phrase, it is not a Professor of Theology in comfortable slippers theorizing in front of a cheery fire, smoking a fragrant (or stinky?) pipe.
He states: “ I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked” 2 Corinthians 11 : 22 – 27
He really has something to say so – Stay tuned as we explore
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