| 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” |
Life has its problems.
They range from minor to life-altering. A child can skin a knee, but that is nothing like an illness that puts him on a respirator. A lost job can be recovered, but a lost limb is permanent.
Much has been observed about how we meet what happens to us. It really does come down to perspective. How bad is it, really?
In 1852, a woman largely unknown at the time wrote a book. She was a passionate abolitionist who wanted to expose the true cruelty of slavery through a story. Her name was Harriet Beecher Stowe, and her book was Uncle Tom’s Cabin. When Abraham Lincoln met her during the Civil War, he is said to have remarked, “So you are the little lady who started this great big war.”
At the center of the story was a Black slave known as Uncle Tom, whose master, Simon Legree, was a brutal man who demanded absolute obedience and enforced it with a whip. One day, Legree beat Tom savagely. And yet, a curious thing happened:
“The blows fell only upon the outer man, and not, as before, on the heart. Tom stood submissive; and yet Legree could not hide from himself the fact that his power over his victim had gone.”
The blows fell only on the outer man. Not on the heart.
When we understand that life is what happens to the body but the spirit remains untouched, we can endure almost anything. Paul, who knew something about inflicted pain, said as much to the Corinthians:
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18, ESV)
No matter what falls on you today, it falls only on the outer life. With Christ, the inner spirit grows younger and more vital by the day.
Look to the unseen. In it you will find peace — and hope.
–Robert G. Taylor
robertgtaylor.com
