It has been said, “Life is like a box of chocolates.” And I’m reminded of the “I Love Lucy” episode where Lucy works at the chocolate factory and the conveyor belt moves faster and faster. I heard a pastor recently say, “Life is like a conveyor belt of disappointments.” Sometimes faster, sometimes slower, but always moving, always coming, just around the corner, never-ending. If you’re not disappointed today, there’s always tomorrow. You never know what you’re going to get. How will you get through it?
Paul suffered in his ministry. In 2 Corinthians 6 he listed some of the afflictions: “hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger…” Think about Paul’s travels: 1,500 miles on foot and 1,300 miles by sea. This was without phones and Internet, and there were no Uber drivers or “book ahead” options on Travelocity. There was rugged terrain, poor weather, little food or shelter, and 22 miles to the next inn on a Roman road, if they had a room for you. Paul was attacked, had to escape a riot in a basket, and under intense pressure and rejection. Several of his own teammates abandoned him, and the people he ministered to had their doubts and rejected him at times. Paul was afflicted, perplexed, and persecuted in every way. What would get him through the disappointments? What will get you through the disappointments?
Despite the hardships, Paul was not crushed, not driven to despair, not forsaken, and not destroyed. It is interesting in 2 Corinthians 6 that he pivots to “purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left…” It is these items that got him through his troubles. That is where great endurance comes from: the work of the Spirit and the power of God in purity, knowledge, patience, love, and kindness. What will get you through your rough and disappointing times?
Earlier in 2 Corinthians 4 Paul said about his hardships, “We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. We don’t look to the things that are seen, they are transient, but we look to the things that are unseen and eternal.” When the conveyor belt of disappointments is moving faster, when you don’t know what kind of chocolate you’re going to get, we trust in God. We have His power to persevere.