Fix Your Eyes – June 13, 2021

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. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Fix Your Eyes

When the apostle Paul wrote that his troubles were light and temporary, it sounds like he had a common cold or maybe a headache. But listen to some of the things he was talking about. He wrote, “three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked,” etc. Nothing light or temporary there. Eventually, he would end up being imprisoned and martyred for his faith. Light and temporary? No. But Paul was comparing the troubles he had on earth with the glory that would be his in heaven.

The joys of heaven, won for us by Jesus, are so amazing that the things we suffer here are light and temporary by comparison. Most of us have not been through all the things that Paul went through. Still, there are times when we could sit down and make quite a list. They may not look as bad as Paul’s problems, but they are OUR problems and concern us greatly.

Paul’s advice to us on those days is pretty amazing, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen.” How can you fix your eyes on something you can’t see? He is impressing on us the truth that no matter how bad things may be in our lives now, they will come to an end someday. Like Paul, we don’t lose heart because no matter how complicated and difficult life may become, we can fix our eyes on the joy and peace that we know are waiting for us in heaven through Jesus.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of eternal life with you in heaven. When life here gets difficult, help me fix my eyes on that goal and never lose heart. Amen.