We live in times when personal comfort is considered to be an in alienable right.

As such, a carefree lifestyle can become our major focus.

Yes, modern conveniences are wonderful, no question. But sometimes our deepest spiritual lessons are learned during a season of suffering.

Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindall continues our biographical study of Paul, a man of grace and grit.

In this next message, we'll discover how Paul saw his hardships not as obstacles, but as opportunities

for spiritual growth.

Teaching from 2 Corinthians chapter 1, Chuck titled his message, responding as Paul responded. I think if we're going to study the life of a Paul and learn something from him and his times,

I think one of the great things we can learn is how to respond like the apostle responded.

The way he did is the way I want to respond.

Verse 8 of chapter 1, he tells us only enough of an incident to make us hunger for more of the details.

He says, I don't want you to be unaware of our affliction which came to us in Asia. And the result is we were burdened excessively

beyond our strength so that we despaired even of life. It was so severe that he wasn't sure

he could go on. Matter of fact, he uses the definite article in verse 9,

saying we had the sentence of death in ourselves.

That's quite a pressure.

We had the sentence of death within ourselves

so that, look at his response,

we would not trust in ourselves. I want to give you three

ways Paul responded and I want you to write them down. The first response is he allowed the

affliction to teach him to trust only in God. He allowed the affliction to teach him to trust only in God. He allowed the affliction to teach

him to trust only in God. So that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises

the dead, who delivered us from so great apparel of death, and will deliver us,

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