In my previous blog, I referred to the demotivational posters from the website, despair.com. Another favorite poster from their selection is on CHANGE: “When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles.” Most of us have experienced those days when the winds of adversity are blowing at gale force in our lives, and we’re doing everything we can to avoid being permanently injured by all the fallout. It’s amazing how our spiritual mind can either help us during times of adversity, or actually make things much worse. If the adversity hangs on for an extended period, our bad day becomes a bad year, there’s a battle which ensues in our mind. One of the things that happens, and I speak from personal experience on this, is we begin to think things will never change. We may not pray as much about the situation, because it’s like: “What’s the use?” We may make adjustments in our lives to accommodate the adverse circumstances and begin to accept them as our “new normal.” There may be a fog of hopelessness, which creeps into our daily thought processes.
There’s a great truth, which became significant to me probably twenty years ago, and it’s found in First Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV): “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 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.”
It’s important to be aware of Paul’s (who wrote this first letter to the Corinthians by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) unique perspective of “light and momentary troubles.” In Second Corinthians 11:22-28 he provides a list of some of the adversities he encountered as he faithfully pursued the mission of God. Read Paul's list and you will never look at "light and momentary" in the same way.
Look closely at the first part of verse 18 again: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.” When you and I are going through difficult times it takes every ounce of spiritual discipline we possess, to keep our focus on Christ (Hebrews 12:2), and not our circumstances. All that is going on in our lives is so in our face, it’s hard to look past it and to see anything else. I think the truth in the last part of verse 18 will help: “For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” To put this differently: IF YOU CAN SEE IT, IT’S SUBJECT TO CHANGE. The World English Dictionary defines “temporary” as: “not permanent; lasting only a short time.”
Here’s how this works: You’re seeing relationship conflicts in your life, so because you can see the conflict, it’s subject to change. You’re seeing financial problems in your life, so because you can see the zero balances in your accounts, they’re subject to change. You’re seeing the physical condition of your body, so because you can see the illness or infirmity, it’s subject to change.
There is a story, whether it’s true or not I don’t know, which says that after many months of work, the sages [philosophers] approached the king. They had come to a unanimous conclusion that the wisdom of the world could be put into a four-word sentence. They told the king that this sentence could be applied in many different situations. It could humble the proud, and bring comfort to the afflicted. The four-word sentence they came up with: “This too shall pass.” (Source: http://www.ucg.org/sermons/transcripts/200311shallpass.htm) While this phrase is not directly found in the Bible, even though it sounds biblical, it is reflected in this truth from First Corinthians 4: “If you can see it, it’s subject to change.”
Be encouraged! If there is adversity in your life today, fix your focus on Jesus, because things are about to change, we have God’s Word on it.
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