2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says,...

Today's verses are 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 which read,

16  "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.17  For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,18  while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

The Apostle Paul is wearing out his physical body with the spread of the gospel.  He is enduring things that are probably speeding up that aging process.  But his inner man is being fueled by something and that is in the word "therefore."  In verse 15 it says, "...so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God."  What lifts Paul's inner man is seeing the transforming work of God, not only in his life but also in the lives of others.

In verse 17 Paul makes the comparison very evident with the choice of words.  "Light affliction" means "a weightless trifle."  "Eternal weight" means "heavy mass."  The pressures of the day in light of what is to come.  No comparison.

Here is the hard part.  Can you look beyond your physical life to your spiritual life?  Can you look beyond what is temporary to what is eternal?  How much of your view is locked onto what matters to God?  I know that we live in a physical world and that we need to accomplish the tasks of the day and the responsibilities that we have but can we keep that in perspective to our relationship with the Lord?

I have had many times when my view has been locked on the temporal or what is seen and what I was going through was not solved or moved forward in the right direction until I started locking my eyes on what I couldn't see and Who was in charge of the eternal.   The temporal shrunk down to its appropriate size and the eternal grew and with that came peace and comfort and direction from God.

So many times we live backwards to what God calls us to live.


Pastor Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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