To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great
If Paul's life is a picture of what it looks like to have God's help, many at this point would say they'd rather NOT have God on their side: arrested, abused, despised, misunderstood, shipwrecked, etc... "If that's God's help, I'd hate to see His opposition!" some might say. But Paul sees all circumstances as God's provision and his current situation as being exactly where God wants him to be. When you submit yourself entirely to God's will, you may not know where you will end up, but you can be assured wherever it is, it is in God's will. You lose the benefit of predictability, but you gain the benefit of acceptability. Wherever you are, it must be where you're supposed to be, whatever you have, it must be what you're supposed to have, whatever you lack, it must be what you're supposed to lack, etc... When you do godly things by God's means, you never have to doubt if what you have or where you are is outside of God's plan for your life.
On the contrary, if you aim at godless ends or strive to achieve good and godly ends by ungodly or godless measures, you will often be left in doubt. The good that you have is not rightfully yours and the bad you endure is your own fault.
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