Three Truths That Overcome Trials

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” (2Co 4:16-17 AV)

 

Do you feel overwhelmed, down, or depressed because life is not an easy task?  Are troubles all around?  Do you feel weary in the battle for the LORD enough to throw in the towel?  Do the world, the Devil, and the flesh harass you until all your strength is sapped?  Paul states that even though his outward man, that is, his literal body, is on the decline, the inward person feels alive day by day.  The flesh may weaken, but the spirit does not have to.  The spirit can be renewed day by day. No matter how weary we get, the spirit can feel as though the soul is alive.  There are several reasons Paul is able to say what he said in verse sixteen.  First, he sees all trouble, no matter the depth, as light.  Second, he sees all trouble as only temporary.  Third, he sees the benefit of glory as the result of the temporary trials he is asked to endure.

I had a church attender years ago that was on dialysis.  She was born without two functioning kidneys and the kidney she had at the time was a transplant.   As her pastor, I would visit with her a time or two which she sat hocked up to the machine.  This gave me a captive audience.  While she sat for six hours, I had the time and opportunity to witness to her.  This went on for about five years until her husband donated his kidney.  As we met at the hospital, I sat with the husband first.  He had seldom heard the gospel, so I took the time to share with him how he might be saved.  Next door, this lady was visited by her aunt.  This aunt had the opportunity to harvest what I had planted.  The young wife was gloriously saved!  What a testament to the grace of God!  Our attender was humbled by her sin and situation to finally bow her heart to God’s free gift of salvation in Christ.  The affliction she endured worked to her glorification.  Since that day of salvation, this lady had a different view on life.  Her kidney disease never improved.  She eventually passed away from renal failure.  However, I had the opportunity to officiate the internment and I can tell you the family knew their loved one was saved and loved the LORD.

We may be overwhelmed, weary, or simply at the point, we want to give up.  But Paul had a three-point approach to a downward cast spirit.  He had three truths which he rehearsed to the tired flesh that got him up in the morning.  He remembered his affliction was light.  By light, he is not asserting it was easy.  What he is doing is he is reflecting back on past afflictions and remembering they were not as bad as they seemed at the time.  Second, he remembered the duration was temporary and it did not last nearly as long as it felt at the time.  Third, and most importantly, he believed no matter what the LORD would ask him to go through, the affliction would result in far better benefits than had he not gone through it.  The glory we will receive if we endure the hardships of life cannot be compared to the hardship itself.  God rewards far more than we think or can understand.  So, remember, it is light, it will not last as long as you think, and the product it produces is far more precious than one can comprehend.