Enduring Suffering with Gritty Faith
When the Apostle Paul lists his sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11, it sounds almost unbelievable — five times beaten with lashes, three times with rods, once stoned, three times shipwrecked, often hungry, cold, and burdened by the care of all the churches. Most of us would list such things as reasons to quit. Paul lists them as reasons to boast.
But this is a different kind of boasting. It’s not pride — it’s perspective. Every scar Paul carries is a testimony that Christ’s strength is made perfect in weakness. His résumé is not a record of success but of suffering faithfully endured.
This truth is echoed beautifully in the life and words of Amy Carmichael, an Irish missionary who served in India for over fifty years. She rescued children from temple prostitution and cared for hundreds of orphans, often at great personal cost. Suffering from chronic pain later in life, she wrote poetry that revealed a heart deeply acquainted with sacrifice.
In her poem “Hast Thou No Scar?” Carmichael challenges the idea of a cost-free Christianity:
“Hast thou no scar?
No hidden wound on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land…
But, hast thou no wound? No scar?”
Her words echo Paul’s testimony — that true servants of Christ bear marks of love. The scars, visible or not, are not signs of failure but of faithfulness.
Paul’s last example in this chapter — escaping Damascus in a basket — almost feels anticlimactic. Yet that humiliation captures the essence of Christian greatness: strength found in surrender. God begins Paul’s ministry not with triumph, but with dependence.
For every weary believer today — your scars are not wasted. Your weakness is not a setback; it’s a stage for God’s strength. Every hardship patiently endured becomes a silent sermon of grace.
So don’t run from suffering. Redeem it. Let it make you more like Christ, who bore His wounds for us.
“For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:10)
One day, the scars will be gone — but the glory they point to will remain forever.