Jack
------------------We Do Not Lose Heart
I suspect there are some reading these words might take exception to the title: "We Do Not Lose Heart". You do not mean to lose heart. You do not want to lose heart. You know that you should not lose heart. But, you are. You are losing heart or at least you feel like you may be losing heart.
You have dreams that seem to be fading. You think about opportunities that have passed by, or never came. You see obstacles that are too big and too powerful to overcome. You are faced with problems that seem to have no solution. You feel the pressure, you are perplexed, you feel you are being attacked on every side and from the most surprising people, and are afraid that if you are knocked down one more time you make not be able to get back up. You feel weak, tired, and defeated.
What are you going to do? What can you do?
Start here. Read what Paul wrote, "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 be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." (2 Corinthians 4:7-12, NIV)
Does that sound like you? At least the "hard pressed, perplexed, in despair, persecuted, abandoned, and struck down" parts sounds familiar? The other things? Not so much right now.
Read what he wrote at the end of the chapter, "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. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NIV)
Feel any better? Does it help to know you are not alone in your struggles? Do you find any comfort in hearing that others have experienced the same difficulties? Maybe? Maybe not? I know. I have been there.
Before you quit take a deep breath. Before you slump off into depression and hopelessness because you still cannot figure out how to fix all the stuff that is wrong in your world read this third paragraph that fits between the other two. This is where Paul reveals the reason he does not lose heart.
He wrote, "It is written: 'I believed; therefore I have spoken.' With 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 in his presence. 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." (2 Corinthians 4:13-15, NIV)
Did you see it? It is right there in the middle of the paragraph. One sentence: 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 in his presence.
That is the secret. That is the key. That is what can keep us from losing heart. Look up. Look at Jesus. Rely on the fact that He will raise us up. Our struggles show that the Gospel is at work in us. Our difficulties will be turned into His glory. There is a lot we cannot see if we stay focused only on what we can see. This is temporary stuff. We are about the eternal.
I pray that through our faith in Jesus Christ who will raise us up we will not lose heart.
Tom Norvell
www.anorvellnote.com
No comments:
Post a Comment