2 Corinthians 6:1-10: a reflection

1Working together, we entreat also that you do not receive the grace of God in vain. 2For he says, “At an acceptable time I listened to you. In a day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. 3We give no occasion of stumbling in anything, that our service may not be blamed, 4but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God: in great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, 5in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, 6in pureness, in knowledge, in perseverance, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love, 7in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true, 9as unknown and yet well known, as dying and behold—we live, as punished and not killed, 10as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.

As Paul describes the life of a servant of God, he does so through a striking series of paradoxes. He and his fellow workers endure afflictions, hardships, beatings, imprisonments; and yet, he says, they are as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. The life given to God is full of seeming contradictions: outwardly it may look like sorrow, poverty, having nothing; yet inwardly it is rich with joy, and possesses all things in God. The hardships are real, but so is the hidden wealth; the servant of God has a joy and a richness the surface does not show.

Notice the paradoxes of the life given to God: sorrowful yet rejoicing, poor yet making rich, having nothing yet possessing all. Paul does not deny the hardships; the afflictions, the poverty, the appearance of having nothing were real. But alongside them, and deeper than them, was a hidden reality: joy in the midst of sorrow, a richness that made others rich, a possessing of all things in God though outwardly having nothing. The life given to God is not free of hardship, but it carries within it a hidden wealth the world cannot see, a joy that sorrow does not cancel, a richness that poverty does not empty. The surface and the depth do not match; the servant of God is richer than he looks.

That is worth taking to heart, for the life given to God carries a hidden wealth, a joy and a richness the outward circumstances do not show. We can look at the hardships of a life given to God, the afflictions, the sacrifices, the seeming poverty, and see only loss; but Paul knew a hidden reality beneath, sorrowful yet rejoicing, having nothing yet possessing all things. The life given to God has a hidden wealth, a joy and a richness in him that hardship does not cancel. Do not measure the life given to God only by its outward hardships, seeing only loss; there is a hidden wealth beneath, a joy and a richness in God. Live for God expecting the hidden wealth beneath the hardships, a joy that sorrow does not cancel and a richness in God though you seem to have nothing, as Paul was sorrowful yet always rejoicing, having nothing yet possessing all things; for the life given to God carries within it a hidden wealth the world cannot see, and its outward hardships do not empty the joy and richness it has in him.

Lord, as Paul describes the life of a servant of you, he does so through a striking series of paradoxes. He and his fellow workers endure afflictions, hardships, beatings, imprisonments; and yet, he says, they are as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. The life given to you is full of seeming contradictions: outwardly it may look like sorrow, poverty, having nothing; yet inwardly it is rich with joy, and possesses all things in you. Show me the paradoxes of the life given to you: sorrowful yet rejoicing, poor yet making rich, having nothing yet possessing all. Paul does not deny the hardships; the afflictions, the poverty, the appearance of having nothing were real. But alongside them, and deeper than them, was a hidden reality: joy in the midst of sorrow, a richness that made others rich, a possessing of all things in you though outwardly having nothing. The life given to you is not free of hardship, but it carries within it a hidden wealth the world cannot see. The surface and the depth do not match; the servant of you is richer than he looks. Take that to my heart, for the life given to you carries a hidden wealth, a joy and a richness the outward circumstances do not show. I can look at the hardships of a life given to you, the afflictions, the sacrifices, the seeming poverty, and see only loss; but Paul knew a hidden reality beneath. Keep me from measuring the life given to you only by its outward hardships, seeing only loss; there is a hidden wealth beneath, a joy and a richness in you, Lord. Help me live for you expecting the hidden wealth beneath the hardships, a joy that sorrow does not cancel and a richness in you though I seem to have nothing.