References: 2+Corinthians 4

The ministry to which we are called is not something that happens passively or by mystic happenstance. There is a determination and a discipline that needs to characterize our service and our standing in the Savior. Having spoken of the trials of the ministry, Paul now extends his thought to include the travail of the ministry. This is one of the Apostle’s great themes, as a study of his epistles will reveal (see Philippians 3:10; Colossians 1:23, 24). In our text today, Paul describes this suffering and travail as a growing and a groaning in the ministry.