SCRIPTURE: 2Corinthians (NIV) 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
OBSERVATION: Paul is experiencing some tough times. He says “outwardly we are wasting away.” Considering his troubles from the outward perspective, they were very troublesome. But in verse 17 he calls them just “light and momentary troubles.” They are nothing to worry about and they are just temporary and will only last for a moment. How can that be?
It is because he sees his troubles in the light of eternity. The eternal glory that he will receive “far outweighs” these troubles.
APPLICATION: What lies ahead for us after death, in the presence of Jesus, “far outweighs” any trouble we have here in this life.
So how do we deal with trouble? We take our eyes/thoughts off the trouble we are experiencing. We lift our thoughts from the temporary to the eternal! The trouble is only temporary. It will not enter the grave! It will not be a part of our resurrection! We fill our mind with eternal truth. We read His Word! We meditate on His promises. We talk about what we discover in the scriptures.
PRAYER: Holy Spirit, help me keep my eyes focused on heaven, on that which is eternal. Check my heart when I start to pay too much attention to temporal things. Interrupt my thinking when my thoughts get stuck on things that bother me. May I consider EVERYTHING from heaven’s point of view. Amen
Pastor Leon
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