beyond
“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 4:17-18 ESV
We aren’t meant to know everything, but we can rest on the promise that God has eternally more for us. There is an appropriate limit placed on our human understanding, but we must have faith that God is working on our behalf just beyond the horizon.
As I often come back to this verse, I find it both sobering and hopeful. It serves as a reminder that our time on earth is short and designed to be challenging. It also solidifies the truth that the difficult seasons we face are not permanent. They are meant for us and they prepare us for eternity with the Lord.
This world can make it hard to look beyond our immediate surroundings. We can sit for too long in the wake of our circumstances and find ourselves dwelling in the dark places of fear, anxiety, or grief. Our afflictions can feel anything but light and momentary.
In sitting with this verse, I don’t hear God asking us to ‘get over’ or ‘move past’ our challenging seasons. Instead, I believe He’s encouraging us, saying, “keep going, it’s worth it!”. The pain, the failure, the lamenting is all worthwhile because of what we know is waiting for us - an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison.
How lucky are we that our God is so gracious to tell us exactly how we can shift our focus from our problems to His eternal glory:
Look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.
In John 3:8, the presence of God is compared to the wind. We can’t see the wind as it’s coming, but we recognize its presence from what it touches and how things are moving because of it.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 encourages me to shift my gaze towards to the One orchestrating the things unseen. It’s a call to pray continuously, to surround myself with God’s people, and to live in constant surrender. Simply put, it’s a call to stop looking at the problem and start looking at God.
While God’s plans can be beyond comprehension, His character is not. We aren’t meant to know everything, but we can rest on the promise that God has eternally more for us. There is an appropriate limit placed on our human understanding, but we must have faith that God is working on our behalf just beyond the horizon.
This week, I hope you are encouraged to go honestly to God with the challenges, emotions, or trials that you are facing and ask Him to help renew in you an eternal perspective. May he help us all look beyond what we can see and focus on how He is preparing us for eternity.
With so much love,
Sarah M.
additional reading:
Ephesians 3:17-19 / John 3:8 / Romans 8:28
centering prayer:
LORD, thank you for your promise that you have more for us. Thank you that because of you alone, we may find peace in all of our challenges because we know you are preparing us for eternity with you. Amen.
