Afflictions of the Gospel

In my reading this week this verse stuck out to me:

2 Timothy 1:8
"Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God."

What stuck out to me most was the line "but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God." We all at some point or another have"afflictions" in our lives. That is just a part of life. This is something that has been on my mind the past little while, having experienced some afflictions of my own. It can be very overwhelming and discouraging. It can almost seem like life will constantly have sadness and disappointments. This verse shows me that though life does bring afflictions, according to the power of God, we can make it through them, and that even with all the affliction life brings, when you turn to the Lord, you can find the silver lining even in the hard times. Paul's life is prime proof that having the gospel in your life does not make life perfectly easy and always joyful. Through all he went through however, he always rejoiced in the gospel and trusted that in the end, God would make things right. And he will, and if we live the gospel, we can allow God's help to more fully take a justifying and sanctifying role in our lives. Through the grace of Christ, we can rely on his strength at any an all times.