“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…”
In reading Paul’s words from his Second Letter to the Corinthians (4:7-9 NASB), I imagine him thinking, ‘Life is hard, but I will not lose heart.’ Yet, in such temporal weakness, Paul discovered an eternal strength: the power of God the Creator is endless, while the fleeting power of “…the god of this world…” (4:3 NASB) – Satan – ultimately blinds many to the truth of the gospel.
In reading Paul’s words from his Second Letter to the Corinthians (4:7-9 NASB), I imagine him thinking, ‘Life is hard, but I will not lose heart.’ Yet, in such temporal weakness, Paul discovered an eternal strength: the power of God the Creator is endless, while the fleeting power of “…the god of this world…” (4:3 NASB) – Satan – ultimately blinds many to the truth of the gospel.
And life is hard. Allow me to share some of my own thoughts recently penned:
“I’m not even sure where to begin to pray – or for what. The loneliness kills me; the poverty crushes me into dust. I look over my shoulder and see the wake of a wasted life. I look ahead of me and see nothing. The constant nothing of the now has become unbearable.” (Nov. 7, 2009, JOURNAL FORTY: Ransomed Heart – A Battle to Fight, p. 163)
A mere 24 hours ago I felt an increasing terror of hopelessness, the confusion of trying to figure a way out of a life seemingly crushed, despaired, forsaken, and destroyed. Through the words of John Piper in a small book called When the Darkness Will Not Lift (2006, Crossway Books), I was guided to the fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians. Weeping tears of joy, I realized my weakness is essential to God – and like this earthen vessel my body now lives in such weakness is temporal. God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love – foundations for His power – are eternal. But they must be sought, desired, and accepted.
Most of my life I’ve been searching for a cure from afflictions, as if Frodo Baggins of the Shire carrying the One Ring but without the hope of reaching Mordor to cast away such evil and complete my journey. And the closer I’ve drawn to God over the past four years, the more vicious the assaults on my heart have become. Life is hard – and the “god of this world” wouldn’t have it any other way: all of the pleasure is the other side of the coin to so much pain. Paul tells us “…as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth…” (4:1-2 NASB). The mercies of God are eternal – and the heart is not to be lost.
I’ve been on a sojourn for my heart of late. In his book Wild at Heart (2001, Thomas Nelson, Inc.), John Eldredge symbolizes such travels in comparison to Christ’s wilderness trial, “a test of his identity…If a man is ever to find out who he is and what he’s here for, he has got to take that journey for himself. He has got to get his heart back.” (p. 6) I lost my heart in the maze of “things hidden because of shame,” and there is no amount of walking in craftiness or cheating God’s call that will lead me to the truth. In the wilderness, Satan tried to defeat Jesus through his weaknesses. Christ’s only hope was to remind the Accuser of God’s power.
“I’m not even sure where to begin to pray – or for what. The loneliness kills me; the poverty crushes me into dust. I look over my shoulder and see the wake of a wasted life. I look ahead of me and see nothing. The constant nothing of the now has become unbearable.” (Nov. 7, 2009, JOURNAL FORTY: Ransomed Heart – A Battle to Fight, p. 163)
A mere 24 hours ago I felt an increasing terror of hopelessness, the confusion of trying to figure a way out of a life seemingly crushed, despaired, forsaken, and destroyed. Through the words of John Piper in a small book called When the Darkness Will Not Lift (2006, Crossway Books), I was guided to the fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians. Weeping tears of joy, I realized my weakness is essential to God – and like this earthen vessel my body now lives in such weakness is temporal. God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love – foundations for His power – are eternal. But they must be sought, desired, and accepted.
Most of my life I’ve been searching for a cure from afflictions, as if Frodo Baggins of the Shire carrying the One Ring but without the hope of reaching Mordor to cast away such evil and complete my journey. And the closer I’ve drawn to God over the past four years, the more vicious the assaults on my heart have become. Life is hard – and the “god of this world” wouldn’t have it any other way: all of the pleasure is the other side of the coin to so much pain. Paul tells us “…as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth…” (4:1-2 NASB). The mercies of God are eternal – and the heart is not to be lost.
I’ve been on a sojourn for my heart of late. In his book Wild at Heart (2001, Thomas Nelson, Inc.), John Eldredge symbolizes such travels in comparison to Christ’s wilderness trial, “a test of his identity…If a man is ever to find out who he is and what he’s here for, he has got to take that journey for himself. He has got to get his heart back.” (p. 6) I lost my heart in the maze of “things hidden because of shame,” and there is no amount of walking in craftiness or cheating God’s call that will lead me to the truth. In the wilderness, Satan tried to defeat Jesus through his weaknesses. Christ’s only hope was to remind the Accuser of God’s power.
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Cor 4:3-4 NASB)
To be perishing and blind is, in the eyes of Paul, to be dying and in darkness. I think again of poor Frodo, on the steppes of Mount Doom where he can’t even remember with Samwise Gamgee’s help the greens of the Shire or the taste of strawberries and cream, feeling only “naked and alone in the dark.” Paul, as Saul, knew something about blindness and unbelieving – until he experienced, firsthand, the transforming power of the gospel of Christ. I believe we all have been on the road to Damascus, destined for a street called Straight.
Therefore, the invitation is to welcome the affliction, perplexity, persecution, and strike downs of self. One of the most courageous paths a man can seek and choose, in my humble judgment, is to die to self and live for God. Paul exhorts us: “But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE,’ we also believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.” (2 Cor 4:13-14 NASB)
My brothers, do not lose heart! The battle for faith is real – to which side does your allegiance belong? Life is hard, even for the faithful in Christ. Would you choose temporal pleasures over eternal life? In his final words at the end of Chapter 4, Paul clearly lays out a path: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor 4:16-18 NASB)
Salvation is of God, not of me. There is nothing I can do or say or think to merit what was done by Jesus on the Cross – for me, for you, for mankind. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NASB) A choice is to be made: temporal or eternal? Choose wisely – but choose. The most important truth is the easiest to forget: Jesus Christ died so that sinners would be reconciled to God and forgiven by God. My prayers for those reading this who do not have a reconciled relationship with God would be that your next steps lead you onto the path of eternal strength and away from temporal weakness.
To be perishing and blind is, in the eyes of Paul, to be dying and in darkness. I think again of poor Frodo, on the steppes of Mount Doom where he can’t even remember with Samwise Gamgee’s help the greens of the Shire or the taste of strawberries and cream, feeling only “naked and alone in the dark.” Paul, as Saul, knew something about blindness and unbelieving – until he experienced, firsthand, the transforming power of the gospel of Christ. I believe we all have been on the road to Damascus, destined for a street called Straight.
Therefore, the invitation is to welcome the affliction, perplexity, persecution, and strike downs of self. One of the most courageous paths a man can seek and choose, in my humble judgment, is to die to self and live for God. Paul exhorts us: “But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE,’ we also believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.” (2 Cor 4:13-14 NASB)
My brothers, do not lose heart! The battle for faith is real – to which side does your allegiance belong? Life is hard, even for the faithful in Christ. Would you choose temporal pleasures over eternal life? In his final words at the end of Chapter 4, Paul clearly lays out a path: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor 4:16-18 NASB)
Salvation is of God, not of me. There is nothing I can do or say or think to merit what was done by Jesus on the Cross – for me, for you, for mankind. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NASB) A choice is to be made: temporal or eternal? Choose wisely – but choose. The most important truth is the easiest to forget: Jesus Christ died so that sinners would be reconciled to God and forgiven by God. My prayers for those reading this who do not have a reconciled relationship with God would be that your next steps lead you onto the path of eternal strength and away from temporal weakness.
More on JOHN PIPER is available at: http://www.desiringgod.org/
More on JOHN ELDREDGE is available at: http://www.ransomedheart.com/
More on JOHN ELDREDGE is available at: http://www.ransomedheart.com/
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