Sunday, October 29, 2017

So we do not lose heart



Sometimes, life just feels like it's falling apart, and no matter what you do it just keeps getting worse. Have you ever felt like that?

Well, friends, I have. And I'm sure some of you (if not all) have, too.


As I've talked about in previous blogs recently, I've been in some really rough seasons lately. And it seems that every time I think it's about to get better– nope. Something happens. Something that is beyond my control. Something that makes me question WHY. Something that brings me back to the realization that I have absolutely no other option but to trust God to get me through and to fix whatever has happened this time.

The other day, I was talking with the Lord and letting Him know how broken I feel, how messy my life seems currently, how much I try to seem like I have it all together when in reality, I don't (Lord knows I don't).

While I was expressing these things to the Lord, He brought me to 2 Corinthians 4. I began to read, and as I read it, things finally started to make sense to me.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.  
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;perplexed, but not driven to despair;persecuted, but not forsaken;struck down, but not destroyed;always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.  
For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  
So we do not lose heart.  

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  
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 Corinthians 4:7-11; 16-18 / ESV


Y'all. Sometimes, life feels like it is falling apart because it is. Sometimes, we feel broken because we are. Sometimes we feel like things just keep getting worse because they are.

But that's not the whole story. Yes we are broken, clay, cracked jars. But we have a treasure on the inside of us: Christ.

Yes, we are afflicted in every way, perplexed, persecuted, & struck down. But we are not crushed. We are not driven to despair. We are not forsaken. We are not destroyed.

Yes, we carry the death of Jesus; But we also carry and manifest His life.

Friends, do not lose heart.

We may be wasting away outwardly, but inwardly? God is using our hardships to sharpen us, strengthen us, grow us, build us, prune us, and ultimately to make us more like Him. He is putting us through the fire to test the genuineness of our faith, that it may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus is revealed (1 Peter 1:7). Outwardly, we may be wasting away. But inwardly, we are being renewed day by day by day.

What we go through now, on earth, is a light momentary affliction. It may not feel like that. Actually, it probably WON'T feel like that. But we can hold on to the promise that this too shall pass. In light of eternity, it is a temporary discomfort. It is just a reminder that this earth is not our home; we are just passing through. And as we pass through, we are being prepared for an eternal weight of glory that goes beyond all comparison.

What we see. What we experience. What we face. It is just temporary. No, I'm not saying it isn't painful. No, I'm not saying it isn't important. No, I'm not saying it isn't real. Trust me, it is. I know it is. I'm walking through it, too.

But what I am saying, is that you are not what you are going through. I am not what I am going through. Though we all have broken and messy lives in one way or another, though we are broken vessels, though we are jars of clay; Christ is our treasure. We are broken, but that's not all we are.

We hold a treasure of far more worth than anything we could imagine. Right here, in us.

When we fall, He carries us. When our strength fails, He strengthens us. When we feel as though we cannot continue on, He helps us make our way.

My story is not over. Your story is not over.

He hears. He knows.

He has not forsaken you.

He will bring you through it. And He will be with you the entire way out.



"When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze."
-Isaiah 43:2 / NIV




God bless,

Elisha