In Luke 15 Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for "welcoming sinners and eating with them". Jesus responds with not just one parable, but three. (The parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son/prodigal son.) I haven't studied for themes in the gospels as far as the number of times Jesus tells stories around a certain theme (yet) but three in a row strikes me as greater emphasis than we see at other times. This made me pick up my head and pay attention.
The footnotes in my bible led me to Luke 19, the story of Zaccheus, a wealthy tax collector. Zaccheus is short and so he climbs into a tree to see who Jesus was. Jesus sees him and invites himself over to Zaccheus' house to eat, which he is happy to oblige. When people begin to mutter about Jesus eating with a sinner Zaccheus responds by telling Jesus that he will give half of his wealth to the poor and pay back 4 times the amount of anything he cheated someone out of. Here Jesus says:
Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
I am struck by how Jesus seeks out this man. His heart for the lost is so evident here. It is literally the reason that he came.
This is an issue that I struggle with as far as how to respond. I know that it is important to him. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He came to die so that the lost may have hope. What do this mean for my life? Sometimes I feel what I think might be a call to missions, but lately I have felt more of a call to generously support missionaries. I also see that there are opportunities where I am, there are lost all around me. I pray for eyes to see, and a mouth to speak.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Saturday, December 29, 2012
God's kindness to me: He hired an assistant for me!
I have been a bit absent from my blog, but that doesn't mean that God hasn't been working on my heart and working in my life. Right now I am feeling so blessed. I am so thankful to feel Him so real and close.
This past year has had a lot of staffing changes. My business is small so to lose an employee means that I have a pretty major disruption in my business. My clients don't feel it too much, but my family does. I feel it.
When my last assistant told me that it wasn't a good fit for her I felt that it was a difficulty from the Lord, meant to help me increase my faith. As this was going to be my fourth hire for this position in just a year it caused me to reconsider my processes. What I have been doing is advertising for as many applications as possible, resumes that looked interesting were followed up with a written questionnaire and if they still looked like a good fit I called them in for an interview. If the interview went well then I had some follow up testing. In my worldly wisdom it seemed like a pretty decent way to do it, except for that it wasn't working.
At the same time my pastor released his latest book for free on Amazon for one day. I may have eventually purchased it, but I got it at that time and started reading it. The timing was just so perfect that it seemed like a gift from the Lord. It's called "God Told Me" and it is about giving the Lord your decisions to make. This furthered my conviction that I was to do nothing and let the Lord bring me an assistant.
So, I did nothing. I just waited. I had no idea what it would look like. As someone who is generally pretty proactive this was very difficult! Also, I was a little nervous. I had hired someone before that I thought came from the Lord, but it hadn't worked out well. Can He be trusted really?
I interviewed someone from my bible study that was seeking employment. It wasn't a good fit for either of us. So I kept waiting... This is where I must tell you that I don't feel like someone of great faith. I did doubt. Was this really going to work out? Did the Lord care about something like how well things were going for me in my job? Was this too trivial for Him? Was this too worldly to be deserving of His attention?
I had a moment of weakness and I posted the job on Craigslist. I convinced myself that because I was on the site anyways that it wasn't anything extra and so it was maybe where God was leading me. But I knew the truth was that I didn't trust God to bring me someone in the time frame that I wanted and I wanted to get this show on the road. The next morning my devotions was Matthew 14 which has the story of Peter walking on the water.
I identified with him:
29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
The footnotes in my bible directed me to James 1:5-8 which felt like the Lord was reprimanding me directly:
James 1:5-8 New International Version (NIV) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
Oh no, the Lord was saying that if I don't trust him, I should not expect to receive anything from him! I actually rejoiced to feel the Lord speaking directly to me, albeit a reprimand. I rejoice that he cares for me enough to correct me. Immediately I took my ad off Craigslist and continued waiting. I had had multiple people ask me "Why don't you use a temp service?" and so I started to wonder if this was the Lord speaking to me. If so, where would I start? I began praying that if this is what he was directing me to do that he bring a temp service to me. I prayed that someone from a temp/job placement service would contact me without me making the first contact.
The very next morning I received an email from someone who I didn't remember meeting before that wanted to talk to me about selling their house. Her signature on her email indicated that she worked at Michigan Works - a state organization that worked with the unemployment office in helping people find employment. This timing was too perfect! I felt directed there by the Lord. I met with her about her house and while I was there I asked her about my desire to hire an assistant. She sent me 3 resumes. One said that she didn't think it would be a good fit for her, the other two had interest. I sent them the questionnaire and based on their answers I selected just one to interview. I loved talking to her and all her answers made it look like she would be such a great candidate. When I did the testing it came out that she has very very poor math skills. Now I was confused: was this the candidate that God had selected for me? Was math skills really that big of a deal? Did the Lord know that she would be good for me even though the testing didn't go well?
After a lot of prayer and conversations with my husband and co-worker I felt that although it didn't seem like the best choice for me based on human wisdom, everything seemed to point to this being the person that the Lord had selected for me and I would move forward with her. I wanted to have faith that the Lord knew what was best for me better than I did.
That morning I received a phone call from the person who heads up the department at the community college where people could get an associates in being an Administrative Assistant. She said she would send me a resume in the next few days. This phone call was so well timed. Another couple of hours and I would have offered the position to the candidate that I had. For her to call right then seemed like a release from the Lord that I did not have to hire this other person. It felt (to a much lesser degree!) like Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac - the Lord honored his willingness to do so but released him from the obligation.
Later that day the other candidate from Michigan Works called me to check on her resume. My main hesitation was that I didn't think I would be able to afford her: she has very extensive management experience and seemed overqualified. I interviewed her and she seems like a perfect fit. So, after much prayer I did end up offering her the position and she actually accepted! I feel so blessed. The Lord blessed me with someone perfect that I normally couldn't afford. Amazing!
I learned through this that the Lord is faithful, he cares about all aspects of my life, and he can be trusted. Through this experience I not only gained a new assistant, I also grew closer to the Lord and learned to trust him. Now I'm looking for more decisions that I can give to him!
This past year has had a lot of staffing changes. My business is small so to lose an employee means that I have a pretty major disruption in my business. My clients don't feel it too much, but my family does. I feel it.
When my last assistant told me that it wasn't a good fit for her I felt that it was a difficulty from the Lord, meant to help me increase my faith. As this was going to be my fourth hire for this position in just a year it caused me to reconsider my processes. What I have been doing is advertising for as many applications as possible, resumes that looked interesting were followed up with a written questionnaire and if they still looked like a good fit I called them in for an interview. If the interview went well then I had some follow up testing. In my worldly wisdom it seemed like a pretty decent way to do it, except for that it wasn't working.
At the same time my pastor released his latest book for free on Amazon for one day. I may have eventually purchased it, but I got it at that time and started reading it. The timing was just so perfect that it seemed like a gift from the Lord. It's called "God Told Me" and it is about giving the Lord your decisions to make. This furthered my conviction that I was to do nothing and let the Lord bring me an assistant.
So, I did nothing. I just waited. I had no idea what it would look like. As someone who is generally pretty proactive this was very difficult! Also, I was a little nervous. I had hired someone before that I thought came from the Lord, but it hadn't worked out well. Can He be trusted really?
I interviewed someone from my bible study that was seeking employment. It wasn't a good fit for either of us. So I kept waiting... This is where I must tell you that I don't feel like someone of great faith. I did doubt. Was this really going to work out? Did the Lord care about something like how well things were going for me in my job? Was this too trivial for Him? Was this too worldly to be deserving of His attention?
I had a moment of weakness and I posted the job on Craigslist. I convinced myself that because I was on the site anyways that it wasn't anything extra and so it was maybe where God was leading me. But I knew the truth was that I didn't trust God to bring me someone in the time frame that I wanted and I wanted to get this show on the road. The next morning my devotions was Matthew 14 which has the story of Peter walking on the water.
I identified with him:
29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
The footnotes in my bible directed me to James 1:5-8 which felt like the Lord was reprimanding me directly:
James 1:5-8 New International Version (NIV) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
Oh no, the Lord was saying that if I don't trust him, I should not expect to receive anything from him! I actually rejoiced to feel the Lord speaking directly to me, albeit a reprimand. I rejoice that he cares for me enough to correct me. Immediately I took my ad off Craigslist and continued waiting. I had had multiple people ask me "Why don't you use a temp service?" and so I started to wonder if this was the Lord speaking to me. If so, where would I start? I began praying that if this is what he was directing me to do that he bring a temp service to me. I prayed that someone from a temp/job placement service would contact me without me making the first contact.
The very next morning I received an email from someone who I didn't remember meeting before that wanted to talk to me about selling their house. Her signature on her email indicated that she worked at Michigan Works - a state organization that worked with the unemployment office in helping people find employment. This timing was too perfect! I felt directed there by the Lord. I met with her about her house and while I was there I asked her about my desire to hire an assistant. She sent me 3 resumes. One said that she didn't think it would be a good fit for her, the other two had interest. I sent them the questionnaire and based on their answers I selected just one to interview. I loved talking to her and all her answers made it look like she would be such a great candidate. When I did the testing it came out that she has very very poor math skills. Now I was confused: was this the candidate that God had selected for me? Was math skills really that big of a deal? Did the Lord know that she would be good for me even though the testing didn't go well?
After a lot of prayer and conversations with my husband and co-worker I felt that although it didn't seem like the best choice for me based on human wisdom, everything seemed to point to this being the person that the Lord had selected for me and I would move forward with her. I wanted to have faith that the Lord knew what was best for me better than I did.
That morning I received a phone call from the person who heads up the department at the community college where people could get an associates in being an Administrative Assistant. She said she would send me a resume in the next few days. This phone call was so well timed. Another couple of hours and I would have offered the position to the candidate that I had. For her to call right then seemed like a release from the Lord that I did not have to hire this other person. It felt (to a much lesser degree!) like Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac - the Lord honored his willingness to do so but released him from the obligation.
Later that day the other candidate from Michigan Works called me to check on her resume. My main hesitation was that I didn't think I would be able to afford her: she has very extensive management experience and seemed overqualified. I interviewed her and she seems like a perfect fit. So, after much prayer I did end up offering her the position and she actually accepted! I feel so blessed. The Lord blessed me with someone perfect that I normally couldn't afford. Amazing!
I learned through this that the Lord is faithful, he cares about all aspects of my life, and he can be trusted. Through this experience I not only gained a new assistant, I also grew closer to the Lord and learned to trust him. Now I'm looking for more decisions that I can give to him!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Jeremiah 18 - He is the potter, we are the clay
Who do I think that I am?
Jeremiah 18 starts with the Lord telling Jeremiah to go and observe the potter. Vs 3-4 says "So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands: so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him."
The Lord then uses that as an illustration of what he can do to the nations: as He pleases.
It reminds me of the ending of Job found in Job 38:1-42:6 where God reminds Job that He is the one who created the world and has been there from the beginning of time. Job sees only this little slice, God sees it all. Who do we think we are to question him? With our limited viewpoint, what possibly makes us qualified to tell God how things ought to go.
When we consider his power. How He created the world. We create small things - He created the materials from which we create. The author and inventor of all things. With our limited power, what possibly makes us qualified to ignore God's commands for our lives?
Sometimes I must just think about how all-knowing and all-powerful He is. Who am I? This is not a lack of self-esteem on my part. Rather it is the realization that to get my value as part of His family is a hundred times better than whatever I think I get on my own. To lose myself and my will to Someone so mighty and so holy is only to lose myself to something bigger and better than anything that I could attain on my own. My ideas of greatness pale in comparison to His.
Who do I think that I am? No one, except for who God calls me to be.
Jeremiah 18 starts with the Lord telling Jeremiah to go and observe the potter. Vs 3-4 says "So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands: so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him."
The Lord then uses that as an illustration of what he can do to the nations: as He pleases.
It reminds me of the ending of Job found in Job 38:1-42:6 where God reminds Job that He is the one who created the world and has been there from the beginning of time. Job sees only this little slice, God sees it all. Who do we think we are to question him? With our limited viewpoint, what possibly makes us qualified to tell God how things ought to go.
When we consider his power. How He created the world. We create small things - He created the materials from which we create. The author and inventor of all things. With our limited power, what possibly makes us qualified to ignore God's commands for our lives?
Sometimes I must just think about how all-knowing and all-powerful He is. Who am I? This is not a lack of self-esteem on my part. Rather it is the realization that to get my value as part of His family is a hundred times better than whatever I think I get on my own. To lose myself and my will to Someone so mighty and so holy is only to lose myself to something bigger and better than anything that I could attain on my own. My ideas of greatness pale in comparison to His.
Who do I think that I am? No one, except for who God calls me to be.
Monday, March 14, 2011
What can I risk for the kingdom?
This blog is about training for a crown that lasts. Often this is what God is teaching me through his word. Today I wanted to share what he is teaching me through another book that I read which really made me think about things.
I just completed reading the book called "Safely Home" by Randy Alcorn which is about an American businessman who visits a friend in China who is part of the underground church. Quan risks his life and freedom every week when he attends church. He risks his life and freedom daily by having a bible in the house. What is on the surface a terrible situation is considered by the members of this underground church to be a blessing. They count it gain to share in the suffering of Christ. The government's attempt to squash them only goes to show how worthy Jesus is, that so many are willing to risk so much for Him.
Throughout the story Quan is constantly looking for who needs Jesus and then telling them about Him. People who are sad, people who have no hope, people in prison, prison wardens who lack higher purpose. This highly convicted me to keep a sharper eye out for the lost and then sharing his love with them. I do not risk jail as he did, I risk rejection. I risk "offending" someone.
Jesus talks a lot about suffering for Him. It occurs to me that if I am not suffering, it may just be that I'm not serving Him to the level that I should be. I'm certainly asking the questions: what more can I risk for the glory of God? What am I holding back because I am afraid? What could I accomplish for His kingdom if I drew on His strength to overcome this fear?
I don't think that is the last time I'm going to read that book. Certainly I'm going to keep asking those questions - every day.
I just completed reading the book called "Safely Home" by Randy Alcorn which is about an American businessman who visits a friend in China who is part of the underground church. Quan risks his life and freedom every week when he attends church. He risks his life and freedom daily by having a bible in the house. What is on the surface a terrible situation is considered by the members of this underground church to be a blessing. They count it gain to share in the suffering of Christ. The government's attempt to squash them only goes to show how worthy Jesus is, that so many are willing to risk so much for Him.
Throughout the story Quan is constantly looking for who needs Jesus and then telling them about Him. People who are sad, people who have no hope, people in prison, prison wardens who lack higher purpose. This highly convicted me to keep a sharper eye out for the lost and then sharing his love with them. I do not risk jail as he did, I risk rejection. I risk "offending" someone.
Jesus talks a lot about suffering for Him. It occurs to me that if I am not suffering, it may just be that I'm not serving Him to the level that I should be. I'm certainly asking the questions: what more can I risk for the glory of God? What am I holding back because I am afraid? What could I accomplish for His kingdom if I drew on His strength to overcome this fear?
I don't think that is the last time I'm going to read that book. Certainly I'm going to keep asking those questions - every day.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Isaiah 29 - what is understanding?
As I work through the schedule that I have for reading through the Bible in a year I have been reading Isaiah. There have been more to confuse me than to enlighten me, to be completely honest. I was reading today out of obligation and not out of anticipation because I haven't been quite following everything that he's been saying. But now I see how there are these nuggets throughout. It seems the Lord heard me as I complained internally about reading through the prophets and answered me this way:
11 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
I feel like the person holding the scroll but unable to to read it.
13 The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
This makes more sense to me. I see this in our world all over the place. People who are "Sunday Christians". I don't want to be this person that is there physically, but with a heart far away - merely following tradition.
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
Reminds me of the sermons we had about God's wisdom and man's wisdom being different. I don't want to be wise in my own eyes, but relying on the Lord's wisdom. How do you do that?
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?”
Is this partially the test of knowing if things are God's wisdom or man's? If we do things and try to hide them from God, try to do them in secret, it's not God's wisdom.
16 You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,
“You know nothing”?
Here's another way. If we're trying to tell God what we should be and what will happen, that's us leaning on our own understanding. He is sovereign over us, I pray for deeper understanding of that and releasing control.
11 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
I feel like the person holding the scroll but unable to to read it.
13 The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
This makes more sense to me. I see this in our world all over the place. People who are "Sunday Christians". I don't want to be this person that is there physically, but with a heart far away - merely following tradition.
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
Reminds me of the sermons we had about God's wisdom and man's wisdom being different. I don't want to be wise in my own eyes, but relying on the Lord's wisdom. How do you do that?
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?”
Is this partially the test of knowing if things are God's wisdom or man's? If we do things and try to hide them from God, try to do them in secret, it's not God's wisdom.
16 You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,
“You know nothing”?
Here's another way. If we're trying to tell God what we should be and what will happen, that's us leaning on our own understanding. He is sovereign over us, I pray for deeper understanding of that and releasing control.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
"Love your neighbor as yourself" Galatians 5:14
Paul is talking to the Galatians about giving up trying to live by the law. The law is summarized by "Love your neighbor as yourself". We are free of the law, it's this one thing we must do. Sounds so easy, doesn't it? How do I really keep this command? Professionally I have been struggling with how to be a good broker. I started trying to be the broker that I wanted, but I'm realizing now that what I want isn't what all agents want and so now I'm trying to be the broker that they need, rather than what I need. Is this similar to "Love your neighbor as yourself"? Is part of that to not give them what my needs are - but to try to put myself in their shoes and ascertain what their needs are? What does it really mean to love your neighbor as yourself?
One thing that I know that it means is to keep from harming others. In verse 15 Paul says "If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other." Using others for your own gain, gossiping, putting others down so that you look more important in your own eyes - it's so easy for us to "look out for #1" that we don't think through how our actions affect others.
Paul talks in 19-26 about the acts of the flesh versus the fruit of the Spirit. One of the acts of the flesh is selfish ambition. Loving your neighbor starts with looking outside yourself.
Today my prayer is that the Lord gives me sensitivity to areas where I am thinking only of myself and help me to love others.
One thing that I know that it means is to keep from harming others. In verse 15 Paul says "If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other." Using others for your own gain, gossiping, putting others down so that you look more important in your own eyes - it's so easy for us to "look out for #1" that we don't think through how our actions affect others.
Paul talks in 19-26 about the acts of the flesh versus the fruit of the Spirit. One of the acts of the flesh is selfish ambition. Loving your neighbor starts with looking outside yourself.
Today my prayer is that the Lord gives me sensitivity to areas where I am thinking only of myself and help me to love others.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
2 Corinthians 4 - Temporary troubles, eternal glory
2 Corinthians 4:11 "For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body."
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
Sometimes some eternal perspective can do you good. You might be discouraged about the unkind word you got at work, but if you try to back up and think about how Jesus sees that situation your thinking on it changes. You're no longer mad, you see it as an opportunity to show God's love. Like the old hymn says "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full on his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace." When you think about things and compare it to Jesus, much of it just doesn't matter.
While this is all true and is great to think about, I don't think that this is what 2 Corinthians 4 is talking about. At least, I don't think that anymore. I used to have 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 taped up on my mirror to study and memorize as I got ready in the morning and I thought what it meant was that putting up with life today was going to get us an eternal reward tomorrow.
But, now as I'm reading it with the whole chapter I don't think that these verses mean that exactly. Paul is talking about his suffering for Christ. He is talking about his persecution. He is talking about how his earthly life has more physical pain it today because "we have the same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak." (vs. 13) Paul says that because he believes, he has no choice but to speak and because he speaks he shares in Christ's death but by sharing in his death he shares in his life. When you're in the midst of "sharing in his death" it's easy to lose sight of someday sharing in his resurrection, but this is the reward that Paul clings to.
So, verses 17-18 don't just speak of putting up with the troubles of today, it talks of the troubles of today that arise from our compulsion to speak about Jesus. This is how we earn eternal reward - build His kingdom.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
Sometimes some eternal perspective can do you good. You might be discouraged about the unkind word you got at work, but if you try to back up and think about how Jesus sees that situation your thinking on it changes. You're no longer mad, you see it as an opportunity to show God's love. Like the old hymn says "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full on his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace." When you think about things and compare it to Jesus, much of it just doesn't matter.
While this is all true and is great to think about, I don't think that this is what 2 Corinthians 4 is talking about. At least, I don't think that anymore. I used to have 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 taped up on my mirror to study and memorize as I got ready in the morning and I thought what it meant was that putting up with life today was going to get us an eternal reward tomorrow.
But, now as I'm reading it with the whole chapter I don't think that these verses mean that exactly. Paul is talking about his suffering for Christ. He is talking about his persecution. He is talking about how his earthly life has more physical pain it today because "we have the same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak." (vs. 13) Paul says that because he believes, he has no choice but to speak and because he speaks he shares in Christ's death but by sharing in his death he shares in his life. When you're in the midst of "sharing in his death" it's easy to lose sight of someday sharing in his resurrection, but this is the reward that Paul clings to.
So, verses 17-18 don't just speak of putting up with the troubles of today, it talks of the troubles of today that arise from our compulsion to speak about Jesus. This is how we earn eternal reward - build His kingdom.
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