True, I have been running full speed, sometimes living in less than ideal circumstances, ministered 11 times in 3 days and looked up at God and said, “How am I doing?” I expected to hear angelic applause. Silence. Very LOUD silence!!!
So I went to my regular “read thru the Bible” scripture for today. It included where Paul is defending his apostleship: 2 Cor 11:23-29 “… I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? … In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.”
And God said, “Bro Ralph… What was that that you were telling me… (and bragging to everybody else on earth) about your achievements?” And I crawled into a hole and hid.
Ralph
