“We don’t lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we don’t fix our eyes on what is seen, but on what is unseen. What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:16-18
Lord Jesus, this passage has become one of my “home room” and “home run” portions of your Word—for it gives me both comfort and joy. Paul’s honesty about growing physically weaker and his excitement about ongoing spiritual renewal are compelling to me in June 2026. We can have aching joints, tired brain cells, and various health challenges AND grow bigger, peace-filled, hope-smitten, Gospel-hearts. That’s what I want, Jesus. That’s what I want all the way Home. How is that possible?
Paul tells us that whatever captures our gaze, seizes our attention, captures our curiosity, fills our imagination, preoccupies our thinking—these are the things that make the difference between growing fearful and growing faith-filled—the difference between winding down and “worshipping up”—the difference between a quest for an imaginary fountain of youth and actually living in the ocean of your grace.
Jesus, free me and my friends to be more like the aging apostle Paul, whose “light and momentary troubles” (2 Cor. 11:21-33) didn’t depress him but delighted him about what is to come. In all his aging, suffering, and “outward wasting”—steady inward daily renewal gained momentum. Though his physical eyesight grew dimmer, his vision of you and our coming life in the new heaven and new earth grew cataract free and laser sharp. May the same be true of us, Lord Jesus. Thank you and So Very Amen.
