INSPIRATION FOR ENDURANCE
Fred had good Christian teaching
as a child. He’s much older now, and he says he doesn’t
believe in God anymore. Many
people who started as Bible-believing children, come dangerously close to
wanting to give up on the Bible later in life.
Traumatic events take place, and God gets blamed. We’re born again, and we think things should be going better for
us. But sometimes they don’t go well at all. The truth is faithfulness isn’t
something for the weak-hearted. It takes some real inner strength to stay
faithful, and our faithfulness gets
tested over and over throughout our lives. Faithfulness isn’t that easy
sometimes, but is it worth it? For sure!
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that God
rewards faith: “He is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.”
In the big
picture of things, our lives are short here on earth compared to our eternity. “As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so
he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no
more” (Ps. 103:15).
Though life may
seem unbearable at times, God promises that “there hath no temptation
taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not
suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation
also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
In Old Testament terms, “Weeping
may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Ps. 30:5).
You say, “That’s the longest night ever!” But God does promise joy in the
morning. And God “is not a man that he should lie” (Num. 23:19).
In New Testament terms, “For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). I looked up the word
“affliction” in the Greek. It is a thronging, crowding pressure. It’s narrow,
burdened with anguish, persecution, and
trouble. It comes from a root word meaning a rut or worn track. And isn’t that
how the attacks come sometimes? We get in a rut of affliction, the same things
over and over.
When the Bible says “light
affliction” it doesn’t mean it’s no big deal. The word “light” has two meanings
in the Greek. The older meaning is that the affliction is pushed like a torrential wind pushes or oars
push in the water or how demonic powers push. We are all aware of what mighty
winds can do to even the strongest of palm trees or buildings.
If you’ve ever watched the Olympic
rowing teams, you know how powerful those oars cut through the water. And if demonic
powers have pounded you at times, you know
it’s no small matter.
This verse is telling us that the
Lord understands that the afflictions are rough and hard to bear.
But the second meaning of the word
“light” is just as we suspected. The afflictions we bear now are minimal, compared to the honor, praise, glory, and dignity we will have for eternity.
This is how Second
Corinthians 4:17 is translated In the Amplified Version: “For our light,
momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more
and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting
weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and
all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!”
God shows us how to endure in this
life.
“Wherefore seeing
we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run
with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of
God” (Heb. 12: 1-2).
We have Jesus’ help! Let’s use it.
“Help me. Help me. Help me!” He will help us. So let’s do our best to stay
faithful even through the hard things.
Love, Carolyn
Check out my WINGS series on
Amazon or email me to get a free pdf file cjmolica@hotmail.com
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