Friday, September 23, 2016

Seeing Troubles Through the Lens of Eternity

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.  So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (II Corinthians 4:7-18 NIV)

People I have been talking with lately have been having lots of troubles. Lots of illness car problems, and financial stress.  Others are dealing with family stuff—parents sick and siblings dealing with issues.  So focus on school and on ministry is difficult.  Troubles, at the very least, are a distraction, and, at worst, can suck the life right out of us.   And they are nothing new.  Troubles are part of living in a fallen world.  

In the 1st Century, Paul was dealing with troubles of his own.  He was being persecuted both physically and emotionally because he had abandoned Judaism and embraced Jesus.  The Jews were furious and the Romans were annoyed.  Everywhere he went, the Jews harassed him and stirred up the crowds.  The Romans, who held civil order in the highest regard, then would have to come in and quell the disturbance. His life was constantly being threatened and there were times he reached the breaking point.  (II Corinthians 1:8-9)

Yet in these times, Paul learned a lesson—to fix his eyes not on what was going on in his life, the troubles he was enduring, but on his hope in Jesus and the promise of better things to come.  In comparison, then, his troubles seemed, in his words, “light and momentary.”  In fact, he viewed them as a means to achieve a greater eternity because his troubles compelled him to lean more heavily on God.

We don’t normally think that way, do we?  When troubles come our way, we usually become consumed by them.  We don’t look beyond them because they fill up our entire view.  But Paul shows us a better way to live.  Rather than be consumed by our troubles, let them propel us into a deeper dependence on the Lord.  Rather than letting them fill up our entire view, see them through the lens of eternity and thereby reduce them to what they truly are—light and momentary distractions.

Today, while it may seem very difficult, begin to look at your troubles through the lens of eternity.  If you can do it, then what you are going through will no longer look so big or so terrible.  

© Jim Musser 2016

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