3 Take your part in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:3 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)
Some of you who have followed what I have written over the years know that I have a great affinity for John Bunyan. Why is this so? Our enemy is allowed by God to attack me in such a way that I become sorely tempted by him into despairing of this ministry. Why? This happens as my focus goes inward and with that always comes a sense of my sinfulness and unworthiness to even be called a Christian….
I look at those whom God uses to feed me spiritually and I see how small I am. How can God use one such as me? Two things have helped me through this. I have read Bunyan’s autobiography. As I read of his early Christian walk it soon became apparent that there were some parallels with how God is using not only me, but many others like me in these dark times. The well educated and those with large ministries are more often than not the ones who are on the road to apostasy just as in Bunyan’s day. Bunyan was barely educated and his only education in theology was from the Word of God and sitting at the feet of his pastor. God raised him up to do a mighty work in the Church, but it was one that involved much suffering. The second thing that helps me is a gift from God that always comes unexpectedly like this article, which I read during my morning devotions yesterday.