16 So we aren’t depressed. But even if our bodies are breaking down on the outside, the person that we are on the inside is being renewed every day. 17 Our temporary minor problems are producing an eternal stockpile of glory for us that is beyond all comparison. 18 We don’t focus on the things that can be seen but on the things that can’t be seen. The things that can be seen don’t last, but the things that can’t be seen are eternal.
Reflection
Do you have a favorite Bible verse? If you are like me, you have many favorites. But there is one Bible verse that may be my favorite of all time. I prayed this verse so many times after Nancy, my first wife, was stricken with viral encephalitis in March of 2006.
I was reading the New International Version of the Bible at the time. The NIV says, “We do not lose heart.” When it first happened, we had no idea what we were in for. Nancy battled with it for 11 years before passing in 2017, losing her hearing and most of her eyesight. But this verse gave me hope, not necessarily that she would heal but what awaited her.
It goes on to say, “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
That year, 2017, was a rough year for me. First my wife died. Then I had a stroke. It didn’t get any better the next couple of years. I had hernia surgeries, and an appendectomy. But as I read the verses, it gave me heart, because inwardly I was being renewed. I believe that to be true, though I’m not sure I would have called them “light and momentary troubles.”
Paul, who wrote those words went on to say, those troubles were achieving for me an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. I need to fix my eyes on what I can’t see, which is temporary, rather than what is unseen, which is eternal.
It works for viral encephalitis, hernias, strokes or whatever else may befall me.
By Rick Reed
For Pondering & Prayer
I think it takes time and patience, and lots of prayer, to look at our troubles and problems. But what awaits us far outweighs them all. Lord, please help me to remember this whenever I need it.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me never forget the blessings in store for me eternally but also day by day as I look to you and for those blessings.. Amen
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