Overcoming Challenges: Lessons from Paul’s Life

Paul was one of the most important leaders of the early church. He had a great purpose and calling from God. He brought the word of God back to the church when they were deviating from it. He fought against false teachings and confounded false teachers. Paul also wrote almost 1/3 of the New Testament.

As Paul lived for God, he faced many challenges. 

God’s greatest saints throughout history have faced big challenges. From Moses to David and Daniel, God’s chosen ones have been people who have gone through the fire and come out the other side.

To succeed in our Christian lives, we must be able to overcome challenges too.

Challenges are not a sign that God hates us. The devil lies to us and tells us that we are facing problems because God doesn’t like us. This is a lie. 

The devil causes problems in our lives. He comes to steal, kill and destroy. Then he compounds these problems by getting us to blame God for the disasters he himself causes. This is wrong. God comes to rescue us, save us, and give abundant life. 

Paul faced many challenges that are listed in 2 Corinthians 4:8-12; 6:3-10, and 11:23-28. According to these verses, Paul was hard-pressed on every side. He was perplexed, persecuted, struck down, and delivered to death. He was put in prison. He faced riots. He had to go many nights without sleep. He was often hungry and thirsty. Sometimes he didn’t have any clothes to wear. He got cold. He was slandered. He was sad. He was whipped as a punishment by the Jews 5 times. He was beaten with sticks 3 times. He was stoned and left for dead. He was shipwrecked 3 times. He was left floundering in the ocean for 24 hours. He faced robbers. His friends left him. Some of the churches he founded rejected him.

Paul faced many different kinds of challenges. Somehow he was able to overcome them all. How? Through the supernatural power of God.

The challenges we face will probably not be on the level of Paul’s challenges. But if we are going to live for God, Satan will try to disturb us, and he might even try to destroy us. 

We can overcome through the Holy Spirit just like Paul did. The same Spirit that strengthened Paul is inside us.

Paul was so confident in the power of the Holy Spirit, that he took pleasure in challenges for the sake of Christ (2 Cor. 12:10). He knew that when the challenge came, the power of God would come. Paul knew that through the power of Christ’s resurrection, he could overcome anything. To Paul, problems became opportunities for supernatural power to operate.

How did Paul engage the power of God to meet his challenges?

1. Paul prayed. 

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6).

2. Paul cast his burdens on the Lord. 

Cast your burdens on the Lord, and he will sustain you (1 Pet. 5:7).

3. Paul knew that all things would work together for good (Rom. 8:28). 

No matter what the devil throws at us, God can turn it around for good. The redemptive power of Jesus is greater than all the demons in hell.

4. Paul forgot the things that were behind him (Philippians 3:13). Paul knew that he had messed up his life. He had killed people and fought against God. Paul didn’t dwell on these things, but he forgot them. 

5. Paul moved forward into the future, growing spiritually and pressing forward to fulfill God’s plan (Philippians 3:13). 

We need to press forward into all that God has for us. He has a glorious plan for his church, and for you as an individual. This plan can come to pass.

6. Paul controlled his thought life. 

We should fill our minds with positive thoughts from God. Think about good things, noble things, positive things, and things worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8). As we think about positive things, our hearts will be full of positive things, and these good things will come out. This will strengthen us and protect us from the debilitating effects of depression. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

Paul shows us how we can overcome challenges. We can overcome them the same way he did. We will do this through God’s power, not our own power. The Holy Spirit will carry us through. This means that the magnitude of the challenge need not daunt us, because God can do all things. We are drawing on an inexhaustible fountain of strength. May God help us and give us victory, no matter what we are facing.