“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed …. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-17
As you walk through the daily responsibilities of life and what may feel like insignificant tasks, you can be encouraged that there is something spiritual taking place. Paul says that we “are being renewed.” This verb is present passive and means we are continually being changed so that we are not the same inwardly. Take this truth to heart! The Lord is using the mundane circumstances of your life, the disappointments, and the heartbreaks to produce in you that which makes you more like Jesus.
We are encouraged by Paul to fix our eyes on what is eternal and what is unseen by physical eyes. But what we see is that hardly anything in this life feels “light” or “momentary.” We see crushing loads and carry the weight of our entire world crashing down. We try to catch our breath; we despair that nothing can be done to put it all back together.
Look up from the trouble and remember your eternal glory in Christ. What else could compare with that? He holds all things together (see Colossians 1:17). What we have gained because of Jesus far outweighs it all.
We are encouraged by Paul to fix our eyes on what is eternal and what is unseen by physical eyes. But what we see is that hardly anything in this life feels “light” or “momentary.” We see crushing loads and carry the weight of our entire world crashing down. We try to catch our breath; we despair that nothing can be done to put it all back together.
Look up from the trouble and remember your eternal glory in Christ. What else could compare with that? He holds all things together (see Colossians 1:17). What we have gained because of Jesus far outweighs it all.
Scripture Focus
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Insight
“So then turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.” (Lilias Trotter, 1890)
Bible In A Year
- Nehemiah 12-13
- Psalm 37
- Mark 16