In the next chapter, Paul also mentions his thorn in the flesh, so we can add that to Paul's resume. This apostle lived a journey that lacked physical stability of any sort, never knowing what the service of God might require. Paul had nothing physical as a foundation or a source of security. There was nothing physical on which he could depend. Like the Israelites in the wilderness, he was vulnerable, and he had to depend on God for food, for shelter, for protection, and for guidance. But notice from his testimony here that the food, shelter, and protection did not always show up immediately or completely.
This was one of the most faithful and committed servants of Christ ever. We might think that if anyone would be granted favor because of righteousness, it would be Paul. But that wasn't how it worked. Paul did not have what the world calls a charmed life.
We could look at this list and identify any number of things we would consider good that God chose not to provide - things like deliverance from stripes, being kept out of prison, or not being in danger of death so often. Those would normally be very good things. How about not being beaten or stoned or shipwrecked. We would consider it fantastic for those things not to happen, yet sometimes that was lacking as well. How about deliverance from all the perils Paul mentions, or deliverance from weariness, or being able to sleep, or always having food and clothing. How about not having that thorn in the flesh. All the opposites of this list seem like good things. Paul feared God, sought God, and walked uprightly, and yet look at all these instances of providence or protection that were lacking for Paul.
This is not meant to make us doubt God, but to get us to think these things through, because this is for us. Scripture cannot be broken, which means that if God intervened to stop those things, or if He provided differently than He did, it would not have been good. While it could have been good in a different circumstance or for a different servant, it was better for Paul to experience the lack of certain things.
God's providence was perfect for what He was doing with Paul, even though it meant that Paul seemed to lack all sorts of things. Yet these perils and lacks required that Paul stay focused on God - and that was how God defined good for Paul. What was truly good was what the lack of otherwise good things produced in Paul. In other words, God defines what is good for each one of us individually, which is why comparing our lives is an exercise in futility.
