For this we count on your prayers in our favor; and so, being many who intercede for us, there will also be many who will give thanks for the gift granted to us. "
Here the prayers of the Corinthians were part of his liberation, and a means arranged by God to fulfill His will among His People. So we believe that God allows us to face difficulties so that we are able to comfort those who need it. In that way, the experience acquired by our suffering can benefit other people. Dr. McGee always said that his experience with cancer allowed him to comfort others in his pain.
Let us listen again to what Paul said in verse 8: "8 Brothers, we do not want you to ignore the tribulation that came upon us in Asia, for we were overwhelmed greatly beyond our forces, so that we still lost hope of preserve life. "
You will possibly remember Aesop's fable about wind and sun. Aesop says: "The Sun and the Wind disputed one day fiercely about their respective power. Unable to convince each other with reasons, as often happens, they decided that the winner would be able to strip a traveler of the cloak in which he was embozado The Wind first began to blow with unusual fury upon the poor man, but when he saw that the cape was going all over the place, he tied it to his body and successfully challenged the force of the gale.The wind declared himself defeated.
It was the Sun's test, and after dissipating the clouds accumulated by his adversary, he began to fall on the back of the traveler with his best midday rays. Shortly after, the man stopped his march, and unable to resist the heat any more, he took off his cloak, threw it on the edge of the road and ran to take refuge sweaty under the shade of a tree. "That is, the sun achieved what He couldn't get the wind.
Now, generally, the wind of adversity will not separate us from God. Figuratively speaking, when the wind begins to blow, and when everything gets hard and hard, we immediately want to turn to our Father who can encourage and comfort us. But we are in a dangerous situation when things are going too well for us. When the sun is shining, Christians seem to have life too easy. And then, it is as if the mantle of practical justice is removed, and they begin to commit themselves to the worldly system that opposes God, yielding in their positions before him. And that is exactly what has happened with many today.
Let us then continue observing what Paul said here.
"Our reason for pride is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with simplicity and sincerity of God (not with human wisdom, but with the grace of God), we have conducted ourselves in the world, and much more with you."
When we look at this and the following verses, we wonder who in the Corinthians caused doubts about Paul's lack of commitment to the church, or his alleged lack of sincerity. Nobody knows it for sure. But a reasonable conclusion is that the Corinthians were influenced by false apostles, who sought to discredit their main rival. And although Paul was reserving his open confrontation with his opponents by the end of this letter, the controversy seems to be insinuated in these first chapters.
Paul was saying that he could rejoice because of his testimony in life. He made it clear that he had a reason for pride; that conscience told him that he had behaved cleanly and sincerely in this world, and that it had not been due to his own wisdom, but that God in His goodness had helped him to live that way. Dear listener, so it is not through our own knowledge that our lives constitute a testimony to those around us. If we have an effective testimony for God, it will be because we have lived our life in the holiness and sincerity that comes from God. Paul was saying that by the grace of God suffering had produced that lifestyle in him. It is that suffering is a mercy of God, which produces in our lives qualities that must be shared.
