2 Corinthians 8-10 ESV–For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

I’ve been praying during the night for a few people who would identify with Paul’s suffering, but beyond that the applications are legion, aren’t they? Self-serving officials, the mess in the gulf (now being called a dead zone), crime in our cities, conflict in our families, illnesses or injustices or simple unemployment among our friends and acquaintances. No matter what the next step may be for one of these problems, it is to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He is all-sufficient, merciful, and righteous.