Wasting away?
| 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. (2Corinthians4:16-18) |
- Banging your head against the same old problems?
- Starting to feel your frailty or your age?
- Wrestling against insurmountable odds?
- Feeling so tired that getting of of bed is a huge effort?
- Surrounded by negativity and bad news?
- Feeling completely inadequate because of mistakes you made?
Paul knows what this is like - do you remember his words in chapter one? "We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life."
At one of our stewardship board meetings, James, our outgoing chairman, who led our devotions, talked about how hope is drained from our lives in a steady and persistent war of attrition. It's a process of "wasting away" and it's like a tick or a leech that drains the life out of us. Paul knew about wasting away and he knew that it can cause us to lose heart.
James went on to suggest that hope is different from despair, dis-heartening and attrition. When Hope comes in, it turns things around. People who have been through a long and debilitating struggle will often find that, the moment hope is revealed, even before circumstances change, they are ready to fight again.
Paul understands this. Hope comes from a deep place. It comes from our eternity that was bought by Jesus' blood. Hope is not shallow or superficial - it is not just thinking positive thoughts. Jesus' death is what opened eternity for us and just as His grace turned the cross into resurrection, He can work in our lives and in our circumstances.
Just as our Lord Jesus turned His lonely road to the cross into a highway into heaven, He can turn our struggles into new life.
We have a choice:
- We can look at the cross or we can look at the highway.
- We can look at the tick of despair that would suck the life out of us
- or we can look forward to the joy of standing in the presence of our Father in heaven and hearing Him say: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
