I would like to start with the title of this article: "How can we find power to cope with today's realities?" Christ outlines for us in the book of Matthew, "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Now everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall" (Matthew 7:24-27).

I often think of these words of our Lord when I hear the claims of the advocates of the "human potential" and the "new age" movements. As long as the weather holds, of course, their house looks like it has been well constructed. Nevertheless, when the test comes, when the storms of life blow around that structure that has been built on sand, great will be the collapse of that life.

With this in mind, we see in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, those seeking to find the answer to the question, "Where can we find the power to cope with our present realities?" This letter is called sometimes the apostle's "thankful letter." He is writing in response to the Corinthians' reception of a previous letter from him [known sometimes as his "painful letter"] in which he took the Corinthian church to task over sexual immorality in their midst. Paul has already explained why he could not visit them as he had planned. "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble, which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead" (2 Corinthians 1:8-9).

That experience had taught Paul the principles of the new covenant; God does a new arrangement for living. No matter how the outward circumstances may appear, Christ is always leading Christians. "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life" (2 Cor.2:14-16). They are always acceptable in the sight of God because of Christ. "You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor. 3:2-6).

Because of these realities in their lives, they have boldness, transparency, Christ likeness, and freedom to minister in the Spirit without veils, without masks. "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:5-6).

As, we proclaim Christ; many times His word will break through the darkness and change lives of those with whom they come in contact. Reading this "thankful letter," the Corinthians may well have imagined that Paul was some kind of super being, that no one could live and share Christ like the apostle. Where could they find the power to manage like Paul? They may well have wondered. Paul's answer is to, Realize our power comes from God. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed- always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you" (2 Cor. 4:7-12). Paul is making a contrast with what he has just said about God who causes His light to shine in our hearts and the fact that there is a spiritual battle being fought over the hearts and minds of men, a battle between God and Satan. Yet God can break through the blindness of men and make His light shine in their hearts. Paul himself is Exhibit A, a living demonstration of this truth. On the Damascus road he experienced the light of Christ as he was on his way to persecute the church.

What is Paul referring to when he says we have this "treasure?" He is speaking of "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." The resurrected Jesus, living in our hearts, motivates us to preach the good news to Jews and Gentiles alike. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him" (John 3:16-17). The Lord Himself and His word of blessing is the "treasure" which Paul is talking about.

We have this treasure, Paul says, "in jars of clay." We are not the treasure; rather we are the containers that hold the treasure. This is how Elihu, Job's friend, regarded himself. He said to Job, "Truly I am as your spokesman before God; I also have been formed out of clay" (Job 33:6). The Corinthians would understand what Paul meant here. They used clay jars of all shapes and sizes to hold milk, fruit, flour, oil, whatever, in that culture, back then. Clay jars, they knew, were made to contain things. As a clay jar, man was designed to contain the living God, who would make man's life determined, useful and fulfilling. Most people in the world, however, are going around empty and despairing. That is why, for example, teenage suicide is on the rise. Young people feel empty and cheated. Their expectations in life are not being fulfilled. They cannot cope with reality because of the emptiness they feel inside.

The reason the "treasure" is contained in jars of clay is simple: to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us, Paul declares. This is the same power that caused light to shine out of darkness at creation, the same power that can break through hardened hearts and minds and make enemies of our Lord into servants of Jesus Christ. That presence and power is expressed in and through man, a clay jar, by means of the Holy Spirit, to show that the source of that power is God, not man. That has been God's way of working down through the ages as He has demonstrated His plan of salvation in the world, using weak men and women, clay jars, to fulfill His purposes.

Let's find some examples: (1) We read that, God used Abraham and Sarah, when they were old and long past the age of childbearing, to begin the new nation, which He was forming. When she heard this, Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure? Then the Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Will I really have a child, now that I am old?" Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son'" (Genesis 18:11-14) Sarah, the aged clay jar, gave birth to Isaac the following year.

The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon as he was hiding in a winepress and said to him, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior. Go and deliver Israel from the Midianites." "How?" asked Gideon, "I'm nobody." That was the answer God was looking for. He wanted to use a clay jar, so He said to Gideon, "I will be with you and we will defeat the Midianites as one man" (Judges 6:12-16).

Daniel interpreted the dream of the king Nebuchadnezzar through the power of God and gave thanks to God, saying, "Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to God"(Dan. 2:20). All of these men were clay jars. In the midst of their circumstances, God powerfully moved through them so that all could see Him accomplishing His plan of redemption.

The Psalms tells us, "God has spoken once, twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God" (Psa. 62:11). Paul goes on to demonstrate the principle that all power belongs to God by using four illustrations from his own experiences that will also apply to us today. "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it" (1 Cor. 4:7-12).

Let us remember that all people, Christians and non-Christians alike, experience those kinds of circumstances. The key for us is to look at stressful circumstances from God's point of view, that He enables us to cope with the stresses we confront daily. As others see that our power to cope is coming from God, not from us, they will see God's plan of redemption at work in and through our lives.

Let now expand on the four examples we read before. Paul says, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed" (2 Cor. 4:8). Paul faced afflictions, pressures and stressful circumstances on both a physical and an emotional level. Paul, Timothy, Titus, Silas and others were clay jars who experienced all kinds of troubles in their ministry. We only have to look at chapter 11:24-28 of 2 Corinthians to see the troubles Paul experienced: "From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness- besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches."

Secondly, the apostle says, "[we are] perplexed, but not in despair." We are at our wits' end, without emotional resource, we do not know how to proceed, is what he is saying. I always seem to be in a state of perplexity, not understanding what God is doing in my life. However, I can be perplexed and not sin. It's OK to say to God, "What is going on?" Perplexity is not sin. Paul and his brothers and sisters experienced that feeling many times--in Troas, in Philippi, in Athens, in Corinth, in Roman prisons, etc.

Thirdly, Paul says, "[we are] persecuted, but not abandoned." Paul and his companions faced persecution many times for their beliefs. He was beaten times without number; he was imprisoned; five times the Jews gave him 39 lashes; three times he was beaten with rods; once he was stoned; he was falsely accused and imprisoned for the sake of Christ. Yet, despite all of this, he never felt abandoned by our Lord and Savior.

Fourthly, Paul says, "[we are] struck down, but not destroyed." Many times Paul suffered the trauma of being suddenly smitten and cast down- rather like receiving a sudden and unexpected blow to the head. Once when he and Silas were walking to the home of Lydia in Corinth, a demon-possessed girl began to follow them and cry out to them. Paul turned and addressed the demon, "Come out of her in the name of Jesus Christ," and the girl was set free from demonic power. Certain people who had used this woman for financial gain had Paul and Silas arrested and dragged before a magistrate. They were beaten and placed in stocks in prison. Paul probably remembered this sudden blow to the head as he was writing this letter to the Corinthians. He had been "struck down, but not destroyed."

All mankind is formed out of the dust. We are all "jars of clay," and as such, we face afflictions, perplexities, persecutions and trauma, both physically and emotionally. When we are called-out and Baptized, we are not suddenly lifted above the normal and abnormal circumstances of life. We are the same "jars of clay," only now we contain the treasure of the life and the power of the resurrected Christ and His Holy Spirit within us. As such we have power to cope with all the realities. which God brings into our lives. We no longer feel crushed, despairing, abandoned or destroyed if we choose to allow our Lord to live through us. We are enabled to see how God uses all these circumstances to His honor and glory, to bring us to spiritual reliance on Him and also bring us into spiritual maturity. Therefore, as servants of Christ we are to face our tribulations daily, and choose to die to our rights and our feelings. As servants of Christ, as "jars of clay," we are to choose to allow the life of Jesus to be seen in our words and our actions, regardless of the outward circumstances, and the result will be life out of death. People will see that we have bodies of clay just like them, but something about us is different. We may look like we did before we were called, but people will say of us, "I think I've been with a new person."

Where can we find the power to cope? Realize our power comes from God; and secondly, Realize our life comes from God. "And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, `I believed and therefore I spoke." We also believe and therefore speak. Knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God" (2 Cor. 4:13- 15). Paul here quotes Psalm 116:10, "I believed; therefore I have spoken."

Here is how the psalmist described his experience, "I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!" (Psalm 116:1-4).

The apostle remembered that the psalmist cried out to God with a heart full of faith and asked God to save him. He believed that the invisible but ever present personal Comforter and Deliverer would somehow hear him in the midst of his present deadly trial. So by faith he spoke to God and waited in the midst of the trial.

The psalmist continues, "Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living" (Psa. 116:5-9). Following his deliverance, the psalmist realized that if he shared with the people of Jerusalem what had happened to him it would be a great encouragement to them.

Paul quoted from the psalm to encourage the Corinthians, "With the same spirit of faith," and in the same kind of stressful pressure-cooker, "We also believe and therefore speak." He believed God could deliver him from all his enemies, both physical and spiritual, as well as afflictions, perplexities, persecutions and traumas, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead..., that same God has the power to raise us out of deadly situations.

Paul again says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry [through jars of clay] of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us [jars of clay] the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us [jars of clay]: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:17-20). The result of all this is that "death is at work in us, says Paul, but life is at work in you" and others who are being saved so that thanksgiving may overflow to the glory of God.