FOCUS/PRIORITIES
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. —II Corinthians 4:16-18
Eyes that are focused only on our present troubles will lack the vision of eternal destiny. Are you consumed with what you are going through to the point where you forget what is ahead of us forever as followers of Jesus?
It is interesting that the Apostle Paul says that our troubles are light and momentary or “small and won’t last very long.” Look what he says about himself in II Corinthians 11:21-29 about his own trouble—
“Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?”
How did he go on with all he went through? It was because he kept his eyes on the prize at the finish line of the race the Lord had laid out for him. When compared to eternity he could say that his troubles “are small and won’t last very long.” Paul fixed his “gaze on things that cannot be seen.” He looked beyond this life because “the things we see now will soon be gone.” This is why he did not give up and was looking forward to being with Jesus and enjoying the new heaven and earth… forever (Revelation 21:1).
Where is your focus and mine? https://www.facebook.com/joshua.feuerstein.5/videos/vb.443476065755081/526422237460463/?type=2&theater
Dear Father, please help me to have the right focus that I would live as You desire. Oh may this be the case in the authority of Jesus and by the Holy Spirit’s power.