We Do Not Lose Heart....

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” ~ 2 Corinthians 4:16, NKJV

Paul faced many hardships in his life. As he explains in verse eight, he and his fellow workers were hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down, as their difficulties constantly forced to confront their innate human weakness and mortality. But because of the hope that he had been given in Christ, and because of the mercy he had received from the same, Paul did not lose heart. He labored in his God-given ministry knowing that he did not labor in vain. He dealt with a perishing body knowing that He who raised Christ from the dead would also resurrect him, and present him, and all those for whom he labored, faultless together before God's throne. Paul went through life with heavenly eyes that saw the world in the light of the truth God gives us in His word. Even when hard-pressed, he was not crushed; when perplexed, he did not despair; when persecuted, he knew he was not forsaken; when he was struck down, he was not destroyed. (Vs. 8) How much could you do, despite a broken and dying (albeit slowly dying) body, if your heart wasn't also carrying a heavy load of fear, doubt, sorrow, despair, anger, bitterness, envy, hatred, selfishness, or anxiety? What if those burdens were gone, leaving your spirit light and your heart full of energy and hope? Paul certainly battled his flesh on a daily basis. But as a mature believer, he knew the power of the Holy Spirit in his life. He could endure the perishing of his outward man, and even genuinely call it a “light affliction,” because God renewed his inward man day by day. Believers don't have to carry those heavy loads on their hearts. They don't have to bear up under despair. They have the great and precious promises of God, which bring life, comfort, peace, hope, joy, strength, and so much more. We don't have to lose heart because in Christ there is no reason to lose heart. Instead, there is every reason to rejoice. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (vs. 17-18)

by Rebecca....