we do not lose heart

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." (2 Corinthian 4:16-18)

This blog post has been long in coming! I found a long post in my "drafts" folder from January. Among other topics, I had written in it about one person close to us who left this world in December. I think it was the loss of a second dear friend in January that made me feel reticent to finish such a depressing blog post...so I never did finish it.

Natural disasters. Senseless acts of violence. Sickness and death of those close to me. Heart-wrenching stories I hear on the news and through friends. My own sinfulness that weighs me down daily. These things are a constant weight on my soul. Perhaps you can relate?

Yet in all these things, I don't ultimately lose heart. Jesus has overcome the world, and I can't comprehend the greatness of those things He ultimately has in store for those He has bought back from sin. The unseen, eternal things God has planned are what keep me hopeful. It's easy to be in a constant state of sadness or semi-sadness when I think about my own challenges in life, and also about the much greater difficulties and sorrows faced by others in this fallen world.

But it turns out that living in a place of brokenness and neediness, a place of wanting and hungering instead of feeling like I'm okay and have everything I need, isn't all bad. We have started memorizing Matthew 5 with the boys this school year, and while meditating on the early verses, I have been encouraged by Jesus' words: it's the spiritually deficient, the humble, the sad and the hungry who are actually the blessed ones! He said,

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." (Matthew 5:3-6)

What Jesus said doesn't make much sense if we expect to see the fulfillment here and now. Now is the time for feeling our need of Him, for mourning, for humbling ourselves before Him, for longing to be clothed in His righteousness. And the day is coming when we will be comforted, when we will find a secure and lasting home which He is preparing for us, and when we (and everything) will finally be completely made right.

This hope in the love and goodness of God, who has promised good things that are yet to be realized, keeps me going. Evil touches us everywhere and manifests itself in different ways in each place: the USA and CAR each have their unique sorrows and dangers. But each of His children, no matter what we are facing here on earth, has something certain, and much more glorious, to look forward to:

"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

"So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight."
(2 Corinthians 5:1-7)