Highs and Lows by David Wood

Devotional

Day 1: Caught Up to Unspeakable Words

Paul stood in third heaven’s light, speechless before mysteries no tongue could describe. Paradise surrounded him – not by climbing, but by God’s grip lifting him beyond earthly limits. He heard inexpressible words, divine symphonies no human language could contain. This wasn’t achievement, but pure gift. [09:12]

God designed mountaintop moments to recalibrate our vision. Like Paul’s vision, your spiritual highs – answered prayers, ministry breakthroughs, sacred joys – aren’t trophies for display. They’re compasses pointing to Christ’s supremacy. When revivals stir or baptisms multiply, they whisper: “See what only He can do.”

You’ve tasted these holy moments. The worship service that left you breathless, the prayer chain that shattered strongholds. But mountaintops tempt us to build monuments to our own spirituality. How will you redirect today’s victories into fuel for gratitude? When blessings multiply, whose name dominates your conversations?

“And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.”
(2 Corinthians 12:3-4, ESV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for three specific blessings from your current “high,” naming each aloud as gifts from His hand.
Challenge: Text one person today describing a recent joy, emphasizing Christ’s role in it.

Day 2: Thorns and Threefold Pleas

Paul’s body bore a jagged reminder – a “thorn” sharp enough to puncture pride. Satan meant it to cripple; God wielded it to clarify. When ecstasy from the heavenly vision threatened to inflate Paul’s ego, pain became the pinprick deflating self-sufficiency. Three times he begged removal. Three times heaven said: “My grace first.” [16:21]

Our lows – chronic pain, silent phones, prodigal children – often feel like divine rejection. But what if they’re divine protection? Paul’s thorn guarded him from the true danger: a heart swelling with spiritual arrogance. Your thorns – the anxiety, the loneliness, the unanswered why – might be God’s tools to keep you leaning on His chest.

You’ve prayed for relief. Maybe for years. What if today’s assignment isn’t to remove the thorn, but to trace Christ’s face through its pain? Where have you missed God’s sustaining presence in your persistent struggle?

“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.”
(2 Corinthians 12:7-8, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one area where pain has bred bitterness. Ask for grace to see Christ’s purpose in it.
Challenge: Write your “thorn” on paper, then circle it with Christ’s words: “My grace is sufficient.”

Day 3: Sufficient in Weakness

The answer came not as Paul expected. No angelic extraction of the thorn. No miraculous healing. Just eight words that changed everything: “My grace is sufficient; power perfected in weakness.” In that moment, Paul’s perspective inverted. His limitations became launchpads for divine strength. [27:09]

Christ’s grace isn’t a consolation prize for unmet healing. It’s the superior gift. Physical wholeness lasts decades; grace anchors eternity. When we demand God fix our circumstances, He offers something better – Himself. Your weaknesses – financial, emotional, relational – aren’t obstacles to ministry. They’re the very cracks where Christ’s light bleeds through.

Where are you relying on personal strength instead of grace? That difficult coworker, that parenting challenge, that secret sin – what if today’s weakness is tomorrow’s testimony? How might embracing your limits unleash Christ’s power?

“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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
(2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV)

Prayer: Ask Christ to replace one self-reliant strategy today with dependence on His strength.
Challenge: Share a personal weakness with a believer this week, inviting them to pray for Christ’s power.

Day 4: Contentment in Calamity

Paul’s resume shocks us: weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, calamities. Yet he doesn’t just endure them – he embraces them as classrooms for Christ’s power. The missionary who once measured success by converts learned to measure wealth by opportunities to rely on Jesus. His contentment wasn’t passive resignation, but active collaboration with grace. [29:43]

Modern Christianity often equates blessing with comfort. But Paul reveals a deeper truth: our most fruitful seasons grow in life’s rocky soil. That tense family dinner, the medical setback, the ministry disappointment – these aren’t detours from God’s plan. They’re the plan. Through them, Christ’s resurrection power invades our earthly limits.

What current difficulty feels meaningless? How might Christ want to rewrite its purpose? Where can you shift from asking “Why me?” to “What now?”

“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
(2 Corinthians 12:10, ESV)

Prayer: Thank God for one ongoing difficulty, specifically acknowledging how it drives you to Him.
Challenge: Perform one act of service today that feels beyond your capacity, relying on Christ’s strength.

Day 5: Glory Beyond Comparison

Paul’s pen scratches hope into Roman parchment: present sufferings can’t compare to coming glory. Having tasted paradise, he weighs earthly trials against eternal triumph. The math astounds him. All our tears, aches, and graves – when placed on heaven’s scale – get swallowed by the weight of glory. [31:22]

We fixate on life’s rollercoaster – the gut-dropping lows and wind-whipped highs. But eternity flattens the track. That diagnosis that terrifies, that betrayal that crushes, that dream that died – seen from heaven’s shore, they’ll shrink to specks against Christ’s radiant face. Your story isn’t defined by today’s high or low, but by the eternal “yes” secured at Calvary.

What temporary struggle dominates your vision? How might eternal perspective adjust your focus? When did you last rehearse the promise that today’s pain has an expiration date?

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
(Romans 8:18, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to make heaven’s glory more real to you than today’s most pressing concern.
Challenge: Write “Romans 8:18” on your mirror; each morning, declare it aloud before checking your phone.

Sermon Summary

We celebrate that life and ministry bring highs and lows, and we learn concrete ways to thrive through them. We begin with the conviction that highs call us to praise and thanksgiving so that every success points to God rather than our pride. We remember Paul’s extraordinary visionary experience of paradise, yet we also see how God tempered that revelation with a persistent thorn so humility would persist. We accept that lows require trust in God even when our senses and emotions fail; faith sustains us when circumstances do not change. We hold fast to the truth that God’s presence and grace prove more precious than altered circumstances. God told Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, and that sufficiency reshapes ambition, posture, and identity. We practice boasting in weakness because Christ’s power rests on those who lack their own strength. We cultivate contentment that embraces weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities, because these realities reveal dependence on the Lord and refine Christlike character. Finally, we anchor all hope in the promised glory ahead, knowing present sufferings do not compare with the revelation to come, and nothing in creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore we respond to highs with gratitude, to lows with trust, and to every ordinary day by turning continually to God’s grace and presence.

Key Takeaways

1. Thank God in the highs When ministry or life yields visible fruit, our first posture must be gratitude that redirects glory to God. High moments reveal God’s goodness but tempt us toward self-exaltation, so thanksgiving becomes a spiritual guardrail that trains our hearts to credit the Lord for what only he has done. Practiced gratitude turns celebration into worship and preserves humility for the next season. [05:08]
2. Trust God in the lows When pain, failure, or chronic struggle persists, trust does not require senses to confirm God’s work. Trust chooses the promises of God over fluctuating feelings and recognizes that hardship often reveals where our ultimate reliance lies. Entrusting sorrow to God cultivates endurance and aligns our will with his. [14:08]
3. Embrace God’s sustaining grace God’s presence with us outweighs the relief of changed circumstances; his grace supplies what our weakness cannot. Receiving grace means acknowledging our inability and welcoming Christ’s power to rest on us so his life flows through our frailty. This reorients ministry from self-sufficiency to dependence on the Lord. [26:56]
4. Boast in weakness, receive power Admitting weakness becomes a spiritual posture that invites Christ’s strength to operate within us rather than prideful self-reliance. By gladly holding our limitations before God, we display the gospel and allow divine power to accomplish what we cannot. This paradox flips worldly measures of success into channels of God’s glory. [27:42]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:21] - Highs and lows introduced
[03:52] - The roller coaster of life
[04:34] - Three ways to thrive
[05:08] - Thank God in the highs
[14:08] - Trust God in the lows
[17:30] - The thorn and humility
[26:56] - Grace is sufficient
[31:22] - Glory outweighs suffering
[32:26] - Nothing separates us from God

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (ESV)
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Romans 8:18, 39 (ESV)
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
39 ...nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Observation Questions

According to 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, what was the purpose of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh,” and how did God respond to his prayers for relief?
In Romans 8:18, how does Paul compare present sufferings to future glory? What does this reveal about his perspective on hardship?
The sermon mentioned that Paul’s contentment included embracing “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities” (2 Corinthians 12:10). What specific examples of these did Paul list earlier in his ministry? [15:51]

Interpretation Questions

Why might God choose to leave Paul’s thorn unresolved despite his pleading, and how does this relate to the idea that “grace is sufficient” (2 Corinthians 12:9)?
How does Paul’s willingness to “boast in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) challenge worldly views of strength and success?
The sermon connected Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane (“not my will, but yours”) to trusting God in lows. How does this shape our understanding of submitting to God’s plan in hardship? [21:12]

Application Questions

Reflect on a recent “high” moment in your life or ministry. How did you intentionally redirect gratitude to God instead of self? What practical step could you take to make thanksgiving a habit?
When facing a persistent “thorn” (chronic pain, relational strain, etc.), what promises of God could you cling to when emotions or circumstances feel discouraging? [14:28]
Paul says, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). What area of your life feels weakest right now? How could you invite Christ’s power into that space instead of relying on your own efforts?
The sermon emphasized that God’s presence is better than changed circumstances. How might this truth reshape your prayers during a current struggle?
Romans 8:39 assures us nothing can separate us from God’s love. What fear or hardship makes this promise hardest to believe? How could you remind yourself of it daily?
Paul embraced hardships as refining tools. Is there a difficulty you’ve been resisting that God might be using to deepen your dependence on Him? What would surrender look like? [33:18]
How does the hope of future glory (Romans 8:18) change the way you view a present trial? What practical reminder could you create to keep this eternal perspective?

Sermon Clips

if you're walking through a difficult season, I wanna encourage you, trust god even when you can't see his hand at work. If you're going through a ministry high, I wanna encourage you. Thank god for that. Boast in Christ and how awesome he is. But for every single one of us all along the way, may we turn to him and look to him for everything that is that we need in the highs and the lows of ministry. Amen? [00:33:47] (27 seconds) #TrustGodThroughSeasons

Paul discovers this profound truth that even better than god changing our circumstances is God giving us his grace. Even better than some of the things we'd like to look different in our lives, God answering those prayers in the affirmative, even better than that is God's presence with us in the hardships and the highs of life. [00:25:25] (30 seconds) #GraceOverCircumstances

And so we cling to that truth that our god is present with us. Then in the hardships of life, he gives his grace to us, and it's better that we receive his grace than that our circumstances change. He may, in our lives, take away some of those painful experiences, and I continue to pray with you that those things happen. But God in his sovereignty has a powerful work that he is doing in each one of us. [00:32:46] (32 seconds) #GodPresentInHardship

Satan had a hand in that but I don't know if you know this. Hopefully, you do. Our god is a god who is sovereign over all things. Satan is only allowed to go as far as god will allow him. And so our god is so awesome that even when Satan brings something evil into our lives, something painful into our lives, our god can use it for his sovereign purposes. Amen? Amen. [00:18:25] (29 seconds) #SovereignOverSatan

Three times, I pleaded with the lord about this that it should leave me. He knows exactly where to go. He's trusting god. I I know you got a good plan. I know you've been carrying me through. I know that I've been able to plant churches in different places because of your sovereign work, but god, I'm gonna ask you to remove this from me. [00:19:06] (24 seconds) #PleadAndTrustGod

So for each one of us, we turn to god. We turn to his grace, and and what does it mean to experience god's grace? We know that grace is God's unmerited favor when he gives us something good that we don't deserve. And I believe in commentators commentators share as well that what it's talking about here in God's grace is god's presence. That god is with us. [00:28:02] (25 seconds) #GraceAsGodsPresence

Those times when nobody showed up to the event that you put together. The times where you have that relational conflict with a brother or sister. Those times when when in your family relationship as you're seeking a minister to your own children, they're not walking with the lord. Well, that's the second thing I wanna encourage you with which is that in the low times, trust god. [00:13:39] (27 seconds) #TrustGodInLonelyTimes

a thorn. You probably heard about that, a thorn in the flesh, a thorn in the side, and this is the passage where that phrase comes from because he describes that there was a thorn, something that's causing him pain, something that's causing him discomfort, something that was chronic, and that he wanted it to go away. But god said that there was a better plan. [00:16:01] (23 seconds) #ThornInTheFleshStory

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