Do Not Lose Heart

"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, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18


Do you find yourself in a place where the days are growing long and you are growing weary? Are you at the point where you would do anything for a short reprieve? In more simple terms: are you desperate?

"Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28


These moments or seasons of desperation can take many forms, often in a time of waiting. Waiting for a mate. Waiting for a job. Waiting for an illness or disability to improve or disappear. Waiting for your husband to change. Waiting for YOU to change. So much of the Christian life is played out in this space of waiting. Waiting for the Lord. Trusting His promises. Reminding yourself of all He has done and all He can still do. This is faith, and this is the paradox of 2 Corinthians 4.

Externally, it seems as if the wheels are coming off. It seems as if Christians are foolishly hopeful. It seems as if our struggling and striving and waiting is achieving nothing, but that could not be farther from the truth.

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1

And what is the eternal glory? What are the unseen things we hope for? Not the job or the spouse or the kids sleeping through the night. No, it is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It is that final day when Christ comes for His Bride, and we will see that all of these times of waiting were not wasted because they kept our eyes focused on the One who loves us.

What are you fighting to believe today? Do not lose heart. If you have Christ, you have an eternal hope. Abide in the vine. Keep in step with the Spirit. Grieve and lament and cry out to God, but do not ever ever lose heart.



Haleakala Sunset


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