II Corinthians 1:5 “For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: 10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;”
Paul illustrates that God has the power to overcome hopeless situations in our lives. While “in Asia” their trouble was so great that they could not even describe how bad it was, so great that they could not possibly overcome it, and so great that they thought it better to die than to live through it. Furthermore, they thought that they would surely die there. Paul explains that their trouble was so dreadful, that they learned to “not trust in” themselves “but” to “trust” “in God which raiseth the dead”. The point is, if “God” can raise “the dead” to life (which He can), He can surely overcome even our most dreadful and impossible troubles. As we come face to face with such overwhelming troubles, we are wonderfully comforted when we remember that it is “God” “Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;”! Therefore, we have every reason to “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart” (Psalms 27:14).