2 Corinthians 4:5-12 (NLT)
5 You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

Paul writes to the Corinthians about how they are fragile jars of clay containing the great treasure of Christ. He further explains we have received from God and not of ourselves. He talks about our struggles, our pains, and our frustrations, but that God never abandons us. It is through our death we receive an eternal life through Christ. And even though we are in constant danger, at risk of dying, and facing death we can count of a life that is eternally lasting because we are not abandoned.

If you are familiar with the TV sitcom Everyone Loves Raymond; there is an episode where Robbie is performing ventriloquism with his Police puppet. He starts out trying to demonstrate the driving class he was teaching, but as his family mocked him the Police puppet started to speak out for Robbie. The puppet asked him mom, what do you do when you get into a car. She responded, that is easy, you buckle your seatbelt, check the mirrors, and look before you start driving. The puppet asked what else. She said I think that is it. The puppet turns to Robbie and says she thinks that is all. The puppet then yells, “what about making sure your son is still not in the restroom at a New Mexico truck stop before you drive off and its 2 hours before you return to get him!” Obviously Robbie was expressing the frustration of his abandonment through the puppet that hurt him deeply as a child. Abandonment is a wound that is often hard to heal. But God will never leave us nor forsake us. He never abandons us to be on our own. We may suffer, we may have to endure, but He is there watching over and strengthening us. Let us praise a God who cares about us and never leaves us defeated even in the face of death.