ENDURANCE

In verse 4, Paul said, "we commend ourselves in every way in great endurance." We need to take a careful look at that concept. How much does it cost to be a servant? The answer is, "You must endure." Every thing that Paul mentioned from this point on through verse 10 is nothing more than an explanation of those things that endurance entails. Various translations attach descriptive adjectives to the term, endurance. In the King James Version, it's "much patience." In the NASV, it's "much endurance." In the NEB, it's "steadfast endurance." In The Message, Eugene Peterson renders it this way, "People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly."

Some versions translate the term "endurance" and some call it "patience." According to William Barclay, it is an "untranslatable word." Sometime we think of patience as passiveness. You sit tight and let things happen without getting upset over the turmoil that's taking place. That's not what Paul had in mind. He was thinking more in term of facing pressure, responding to pressure in a Christ-like manner and keeping your "cool" at the same time. It's the ability to bear things to the breaking point without breaking. It's the ability to be cheerful when there's nothing to be cheerful about. It's the willingness to get up and dust your pants off when you have been knocked down. That's what Paul said it cost him to be a servant.

PAUL'S LIST OF TROUBLES

At that point Paul identified a rather lengthy list of potential troubles that await the servant. It's an itemized bill of the cost of servanthood. He was not talking theory like some theology professor in a tweed suit, behind ivy covered walls. He spoke out of practical experience.

Several years ago, I had the privilege of visiting Pearl Harbor. While I was waiting to catch the boat to take me out to the Arizona memorial, I listened as professional guides spoke of the things that happened on December 7, 1941. What they said was interesting, but then they introduced an old gentleman who survived the attacks of the Japanese warplanes. I gave him my undivided attention.

Paul was a survivor of the servanthood battles. The battle-scarred veteran is telling us what it's like to be under fire. He is saying you can expect to encounter the very same things. You may not experience all of these things at any one time. Some of them you might not even experience in a lifetime, but this is a laundry list of the things a servant can expect. As he presented these expectations he organized them into different categories.

INTERNAL CONFLICT

Troubles

From an internal perspective, Paul said that he was dealing with troubles, hardships and distresses. In our study of chapter one, we noted Paul's use of the term thilipsis, which is sometimes translated "affliction" and is called "troubles" in verse 4 according to the NIV. It refers to the internal pressure that comes on a person when he or she is so weighed down with so many burdens, heartaches and difficulties that life seems to be caving in. It's like having your head caught inside the two jaws of a giant vise that's being screwed down from opposite directions. These would include those hardships that come into our lives because we chose the path of servanthood. Loving gets complicated sometimes. Some people don't want to involve themselves in servanthood because they are afraid they might get hurt. I can guarantee it will happen. The time will come when you will either have to extend yourself beyond the limits you had anticipated, get in a sticky situation that's over your head, commit a grave error with the best of intentions, or discover that your efforts to serve were misunderstood or not appreciated. It comes with the territory. If you read Paul, you have absolutely no reason to say, "But I didn't know it was going to be like this."

Hardships

Paul had in mind the inescapable burdens of life, those painful circumstances that are beyond our control. These are the burdens that everybody has. They include the burdens of pain, sorrow, and death among other things.

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