Did Paul ever wonder why he suffered when he was so sold out to Christ and the Gospel?
Yes, the apostle Paul evidently wrestled with that question many times, especially when suffering sickness and persecution after being sold out to Christ and laboring for the Gospel. He faced beatings, shipwrecks, hunger, cold, and nakedness, yet kept ministering despite wondering why such trials came.
Les teaches that when believers are suddenly stricken, the first thought is often, why do these bad things happen to believers especially, though also to unbelievers who are good people. He says the apostle must have had those thoughts many times: “Here I am sold out to Christ… beating the bushes of the Gentile communities for the sake of the Gospel,” and yet how he suffered—not just physically at the hands of enemies, but even in sickness. After leaving Ephesus under terrible persecution and pressure from the silversmiths, Paul got deathly sick and actually thought he would not live, while still carrying the burden of the unreached millions of the Roman Empire. In 2 Corinthians, Les notes Paul was beaten with rods, shipwrecked, cold, naked, and hungry, all for the sake of the Gospel. Les also reminds us that people today ridicule Paul’s writings, but people are no different than they were in 60 A.D.; their attitudes stay the same.