 And the apostle Paul spoke of this in the epistle lesson from 2 Corinthians. He was an extremely successful missionary in terms of the number of people who believed because of his preaching. But he also suffered much and faced extreme persecution. And so he says, for the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Sounds backward, but it's the way God works.