Therefore we do not lose heart. 2 Corinthians 4:16
Today’s Scripture
2 Corinthians 4:7-18
Listen to Today’s Devotion
Today’s Devotion
Before our trip to Switzerland, my mental snapshot was of snowy Alps, goats grazing, and mountain farmers blowing alpine horns. However, as we drove south from Zurich, the landscape was the same drab tangle of highways we saw in any city. When we got close to our lodging, we had to drive up a precarious one-lane dirt road. At our rental place, we hauled our suitcases up steep stone stairways. Exhausted and disappointed, we finally made our way onto the patio. And there, opening up before us, stretched an extraordinary vista: the Alps rising up majestically over the blue expanse of Lake Lucerne, with small towns glittering like fireflies below us. The ordeal was worth it.
I recalled the verse, “Therefore we do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:16). The apostle Paul writes of his own struggles: “We are hard pressed on every side, but . . . not in despair” (v. 8). He reveals his positive outlook: “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (v. 17). He advises us to “fix our eyes . . . on what is unseen” (v. 18), to hope for that eternal landscape.
Sometimes our journey is drab and difficult. But in Christ, we’re assured that we’ll witness the ultimate snapshot. The ordeal will be worth it: His eternal glory far surpasses anything we can imagine.
Reflect & Pray
What are the difficult roads in your life these days? What does “eternal glory” mean to you?
Loving God, I need encouragement through this tough journey. I pray for assurance of Your eternal glory.
Today’s Insights
The encouragement about suffering that the apostle Paul expresses in 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 is similarly noted in Romans 8: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (v. 18). How encouraging it is to know that as believers in Jesus in a fallen world, we’ve been given God’s Spirit (v. 23) to be with us as we traverse life’s pleasant and unpleasant territory. When we face trials, the Bible reminds us that they’re “achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
For further study, read: Paul’s Pain and His Passion
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