107 - Faith Amid Life’s Trials

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NASB

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

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Oh, how desperate it would be not to have a God who comforts through all of life’s trials, granting His grace and mercy to help in times of need, and filling us with His Spirit of wisdom and understanding to see beyond the temporary to the eternal. Who has called us to a reborn and recreated life. A new position and standing before Him, raising our hearts and minds to transcend this world. Who has given us a new vision of an eternal future with Him that we may in this world have hope.

The work of God’s hands, the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them clearly demonstrate His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature that we may but look up and know, we are surrounded by Him. That we may be confident He is with us, caring for us, sustaining our very existence even through the most difficult times.

When we acknowledge His presence, His steadfast faithfulness in His care and guidance of our lives our faith grows. Even though this walk in the flesh may shift beneath us and we feel we are in some way forsaken, His presence tells us otherwise. In Him we move and breathe and have our being an all-encompassing reality. If the eyes of our hearts could see, and our minds fully comprehend and grasp, what comfort it would bring.

We have but this one life to come to fathom our God, to acknowledge Him, to see Him as He is in all His glory, that we may be changed, that our minds may open to a new understanding of what is eternal in nature, what is our eternal purpose, and what is of eternal importance, to move beyond what is seen, what is transient, what will one day pass away.

This understanding guides us through what in this world so easily entangles us, captivates our thoughts, and weaves its way into our hearts and minds. Without it we flounder in life’s turbulence, swaying with every wind of thought and the cunningness of the evil one. His desire is to distract us and our intentions toward God. To living free, being still, and to knowing that He alone is God.

Our hearts ache when we suffer, partly because it is difficult for us to see, to comprehend with our hearts and minds, that He exists, that He is all powerful, knows all things, and is keenly attentive to our best according to His will. What He has for us, what He has given to us, and His thoughts toward us, far surpass this world, having the power to raise our minds above life’s turmoil.

Even though at times our eyes are dim and our minds dull, it does not diminish or make any less glorious what He has determined before the beginning of time for those who believe and trust in Him to experience. We may not fully grasp it, but He alone has the power to transform us to the core of our being, our thoughts, our experiences, and guide us through all of life’s trials to bring us safely home to be with Him.

Our feet have been set on a high place, on solid ground, unshakable and enduring for all eternity that we may release ourselves from what pales in comparison to the glory that awaits us, not only in this life but far more in the life to come. An eternity that starts today.