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In this letter Paul encourages the Corinthian church to endure in their trials. He said of himself and his companions, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.” (2 Corinthians 1:8b-9a)
Though they themselves were “jars of clay”, he said, they endured because of the all surpassing power of God. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day...” (2 Corinthians 4:16)
In view of eternity and what Christ accomplished for us on the cross, Paul reminds them, “...he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” ( 2 Corinthians 5:15)
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Lord, I will probably never face the kind of opposition that Paul and the early church had to face, but I know that there are Christians throughout the world who are being persecuted. Lord, show your all-surpassing power to them, and help me to remember that I too have access to this power in my life through your Holy Spirit.
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But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us... 2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV 
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