There’s a song by One Republic called I Lived and the chorus says, “I, I did it all – I owned every second that this world could give. I saw so many places, the things that I did. With every broken bone, I swear I lived.” It’s an inspirational song of hope that is meant to share the triumph of the human spirit over obstacles and motivate one to embrace life and live it to the full.
A part of me loves the sentiments expressed in these type of songs. Anything that is encouraging and full of hope sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it? The problem is that hope absent from God — hope in one’s abilities or in the one’s desire to pull themselves up — is not really hope at all. Hope comes from God. Romans 15:13 says, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” So me hoping in my ability to better myself, or push through pain and come out on the other side standing strong without God is really just effort on my part. At its core, this is just humanistic thinking. Jesus said that he is like the trunk of a vine, and we are branches that get our life from that trunk. And apart from God, we can do nothing (John 15:5).
Saint Paul the Apostle was radical for the cause of Christ. He went through things that few of us can even fathom. He said, “I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. (2 Cor. 11:23-27)
Earlier, in chapter 4:8-13,16-18 he said this: “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” And at the end of his life, he said, “I have kept the faith; I have finished the race, and ahead of me lies a crown of righteousness.”
Paul’s life has quite literally changed the shape of the world. Now that’s a life well spent. That’s a life with the right focus. Paul realized that it was only in his weakness that the Lord would be glorified. He wasn’t one to try and pull himself up for he understood that his effort was futile and useless and only a life dependent on Christ was all that mattered. Truly he lived a life — and one that two thousand years later is still giving hope, encouragement, and life to those who read the word of his testimony.