The Struggle For Life

There are times in all our lives when we can identify with the man who encountered a friend while walking down the street. “What’s wrong? You look terribly worried,” the friend said. The man replied, “I can’t begin to tell you. I’ve got so many problems that if something bad happens today, it will be at least two weeks before I can start worrying about it.”

Whatever were the particulars of that man’s troubles, it is probably safe to say that they were no match for the list of troubles and anxieties the Apostle Paul describes in First Corinthians: an incredible worry list. He mentions beatings, imprisonments and brushes with death; stonings, shipwrecks and sleepless nights; hunger, thirst and exposure to the elements. Paul speaks of danger from floods, danger from robbers, danger of being betrayed by his own people, danger in the city, danger in the desert, danger at sea. And, if that isn’t enough, there is “the daily tension pressing in on…