Why did Paul keep pressing on when most men would have given up?
Paul kept pressing on because his three-year experience with the Lord in Arabia, likely at Mount Sinai, was so embedded in his makeup that he could do nothing less. As the Apostle of the Gentiles, he magnified his office, refused to back down, and defended his authority despite trials that would have made most men give up.
Les explains that Paul's perseverance was tied to his apostolic calling and his time alone with the Lord. In Romans 11:13, Paul calls himself the Apostle of the Gentiles and says he magnifies his office; Les says he would not back down from that role because it was his authority, and in the Corinthian letters he kept defending that authority. Les then points to Galatians 1, where Paul evidently went to Arabia, Mount Sinai. Scholars differ on whether he spent the whole three years at Sinai or part there and part in Damascus, but Les believes the Lord took the whole three years to deal with him alone in the desert. Given the trials and tribulations Paul endured, most men would have given up long ago, yet he always kept pressing on because that three-year experience was so embedded in his makeup that he could do nothing less.