Light & Momentary?

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor 4:17-18)

There is a risk in commenting on any verse in the Bible, especially the well known ones. Many people, much wiser people have probably weighed-in on what the verse means and how it can apply to our lives. What can my words add to the long history that has preceded me?

The answer is, maybe nothing. Or, maybe something, that by the grace of God, may touch a heart or a life.

Each time I read these verses (and really all of 2 Cor 4-5) I walk away with the sense that my focal point is all wrong. Paul refers to our "light momentary affliction". For me at least, the affliction I am experiencing does not seem light or momentary. But when my life is compared to others, my affliction is not as bad nor is as enduring as what they are experiencing. And then take whatever we may be going through (as bad as cancer or killer tornadoes) and compare it to eternal life with God, and suddenly our perspective changes.

For me, I don't wrestle with the truth of these verses. They make sense. We endure small pains for great gains all the time. What I wrestle with is getting my heart and soul to the place Paul was when he could look at the struggles and the trials and the setbacks and the beatings in his life and say they were all light and momentary when compared to the eternal weight of glory that God is preparing for us.

I guess it all comes back to focus. When my focus is on me and my life, my struggles will seem big and probably insurmountable. But when my focus is on Christ and the fact that He has orchestrated my struggles so that I can glorify God and grow in Christ-likeness and that there is a payoff in the end, then maybe whatever I'm going through, whether its cancer or martial strife or job loss or simply a bad day at the office can be viewed as slight and momentary.

And we all need to remember (and be reminded daily) that what is seen (i.e. the cancer and the strife and the  job loss) are transient. Whatever I am facing, whatever you are facing, even if it is as bad as Job's ordeal, it won't last forever. What God has for us, even though it is currently unseen, it is eternal.

To God Alone be the Glory