July 30: Thoughts on 2 Cor. 4:16-17

"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."
~ II Corinthians 4:16-17

Sometimes life just seems hopeless. We can't look past ourselves, and all we see is pain: our physical pain, as we age and our bodies start to fail us (or we *coughBrucecough* break our leg and don't realize it foraweek - must not have hurt too bad ); our emotional pain, as we find ourselves alone or childless or unfulfilled or disappointed or disillusioned; and our spiritual pain, as we realize how far away we really are from God.

(Sometimes, the closer I draw to God, the farther away I feel. I suppose it's just an increased awareness of how far the distance actually is. Sometimes, in my attempts to live a holy life, I tend to forget that I don't have to cross that distance on my own. I have Jesus to bridge the gap, and the Holy Spirit to lead me across it. I just can't do it on my own, no matter what my inflated opinions of myself might be.)

The Word of God speaks to our lives. It is eternally relevant. So what is this passage in II Corinthians saying to us?

"outwardly we are wasting away"

Outwardly, we're getting older. Every day is getting shorter, and, as a secular rock band once so eloquently put it, as time passes we are "shorter of breath, and one day closer to death." We experience physical deterioration.

Outwardly, we may be suffering. We don't have the car or the boyfriend or girlfriend we want. We are rejected for our stand for Christ. We seem depressed, alone, frustrated. We don't know what to do with our lives. Our parents look down on us. Whatever we struggle with, we are usually struggling with something, because that's the nature of spiritual growth. Which brings me neatly to the next part:

"inwardly we are being renewed day by day"

Though we are struggling with things, we are becoming spiritually BETTER. We are being renewed. The Holy Spirit is renewing us, transforming us if we let Him.

Our struggles and trials aren't for nothing. They serve to make us BETTER, CLOSER to God. The Bible says that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. So while we can't see it now, and outwardly we seem to be breaking down, inwardly God is doing a great work in us.

This is why "we do not lose heart" - because we KNOW that in the end, it will all be good, because we love God, and God is good. Struggles are just a part of the process of refinement, you know? In the end - the very, very end - we'll have eternal glory because of all that we've struggled with temporarily here on earth. God's amazing, isn't He?

Also see 1 Peter 1:6b-7: "...now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."