He'll Do It Again

We don't want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn't think we were going to make it. We felt like we'd been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he's the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he'll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don't want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God's deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part.
2 Corinthians 1:8-11 The Message

Timothy, my child, Christ Jesus is kind, and you must let him make you strong. You have often heard me teach. Now I want you to tell these same things to followers who can be trusted to tell others. As a good soldier of Christ Jesus you must endure your share of suffering.
II Timothy 2:1-3 CEV

The Apostle Paul was an educated man, a Pharisee of Pharisees. But his education was of no comfort to him when he was persecuted. Neither was his lineage. Many times there was no earthly way out of his trial. No solution outside of the divine intervention of God Almighty. Through hardships he learned the value of fully trusting in the Lord. His perserverance earned him the right to pen the majority of the New Testament. Without a doubt, he knew in whom he had believed.