2 Corinthians 1:8

Paul's disclosure that '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' is one of his most direct expressions of the severity of apostolic suffering. The specific Asiatic crisis — possibly the riot of Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41), a severe illness, or an imprisonment — pushed Paul beyond his natural reserves to the point of receiving 'the sentence of death in ourselves' (verse 9), a state of total resource-collapse. The theological purpose of the crisis is stated immediately: 'that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead' — the sufficiency of God is learned in the laboratory of human insufficiency. 2 Corinthians 12:9's 'my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness' provides the doctrinal formulation of what the Asiatic desperation experientially demonstrated.