Episode 84: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Transcription
Today’s verse is 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
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.
Let’s pray together.
God, the world has lost heart. It’s fallen into despair, broken-down ruins, rubble amidst dust. We have lost faith. We do not understand eternity or glory. We are focused on the here and now, scrabbling for our next meal, desperately searching for truth in all the wrong places, and independently proud. We secretly know we cannot save ourselves, but we try anyway.
God, I don’t want to live that way. The entropy of time marches forward in everything I see around me. I feel it day by day in my own body. I struggle and claw to survive in a world that seems bent on tearing me apart and keeping me down. But I don’t want to live in a way that says I don’t need You. I don’t want to focus on the here and now.
Renew me, LORD. Renew my faith and help it to grow. Help me to develop an eternal mindset, a gaze that fixes itself on Your might and Your destiny. Help me to accept that I am a created being and that You have shaped me and formed me. What I know and see and feel is only temporary. Only You are forever. Please let me see that and yearn for it. May I live with that as my sustaining hope. I will see You.
When I am struggling and when I have to focus on what is happening here and now, let it not be an idol to me. Let it not be my mainstay. I pray that I live in this world to do Your will, to fulfill Your work, and to walk the path You have set out for me. You created me for a purpose. And it is good. I pray I will do it well. Give me a servant heart like that of Jesus. Help me to care for the needs of the desolate world I see around me.
But when I become heavy-hearted and in pain, Jesus, lift my eyes to You. My help comes from You, the Maker of heaven and earth. And whatever I deal with here is only a breath to You, is only a second to You, is not even these things because You are not bound by time as I am. What happens to me matters, but You are the framework of my future. My troubles are real, but they are light and momentary compared to the pleasure and happiness of eternity with You.
Help me to focus on You, focus on what is important, without neglecting the work You have for me. And may it give me hope to know that You are my Provider, my Savior, my Redeemer, my Forever. I look to You, Spirit and Truth, and I know that my life here is only temporary and fleeting. I can soar and exalt in my future, knowing it is lived in glory with You. You are Paradise and You are my Great Reward.
I am so grateful, Jesus, for Your sacrifice, and for the example You gave me. Help me to live as You did. Help me to honor my Father and to grow inwardly, being renewed in His love and in His grace. Shape me in the struggle, grow me in the grinding of hardship. I want to be who You created me to be. And I am so glad I am Yours.
I love You, my dear LORD. You are hope and You are light. Shine before me. Go before me.
I pray this in Your eternal and glorious name. Amen.
