Can You Play Hurt?

Message Review

Main points and scriptures from this week's message. 

In the letter to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul was defending his ministry by describing what he had been through for the sake of Christ. This is what he said:

2 Corinthians 11:22–28 (NIV)
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

We read about the indescribable hurt that the Apostle Paul went through, yet he continued to stay on the path God had called him to. Almost like an athlete that refuses to be put on the sideline, the Apostle Paul continued to play. So the question for you is, "can you play hurt?"

Can you play when you are offended, angry, tired, or frustrated? 

Can you play when you have been stabbed in the back, taken advantage of, or wrongfully accused?

When we hear about what Paul had gone through we might say to him, "You can take a break." Surely after being beaten with rods we would tell Paul that he could just relax for a while on the sideline...

Look at the example of Jesus as he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane just before he faced the reality of the cross and all the suffering he would go through. 

Matthew 26:39 (NIV)
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

That should be our prayer. "Not my will, but your will God." And we know that God's will would be for us continue trusting Him, continue serving, and continue building His church, even when we are hurt. 

The fact is inside or outside of the church, people will make mistakes and we will feel hurt at times. If you have been hurt inside the context of the church do not let it disqualify you from the game. Play hurt!

The Apostle Paul continued to play despite the challenges and hurt he faced. We see this in his final letter, just before he was martyred, and 10 years after he was describing what he had gone through in 2 Corinthians.

2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

How did he do it? How can we do it? It is not going to be by our own strength that we can finish the race, but by God's power. See how the Apostle Paul describes it:

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (NIV)
Or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.