I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. 12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. 13 For in what were you less favoured than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong! ESVUK

If Paul was ‘credentialled’ by his sufferings, he was also marked out as a genuine apostle by all the miracles God did through him. But it is worth noting that signs and wonders are not a quick-fire route to ‘success’ (whatever that may look like in a given situation). All ministry requires ”utmost patience”. Growth takes time; and as we are about to see, it is a form of parenthood (14).