The Things Unseen

For most of us, our daily lives and thoughts are wrapped up in the physical here and now.  From the second we wake up to the time we go to bed, our focus is given to meeting our physical needs.  In addition to meeting our physical necessities, we also concern ourselves with our various bodily ailments.  Such ailments are often the very center of our prayers to God.  This may not always be true, but overall, most of our prayers are directed to God with our earthly requests.  So why is this the case, and what does the Bible tell us about this very issue?  The reason is simple; unfortunately, we are currently here on earth, and as a result we have certain needs that must be met. In Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, he addresses this very issue. 

            The inspired Apostle doesn’t deny that as people we suffer hardships and afflictions.  However, he says that “though our outer man is decaying,” the “inner man is being renewed day by day” (4:16).  His focus is not to shy away from the fact that we have fleshly bodies that are mortal, but instead he confronts it with the reality of the “inner man.”  Such comfort comes from the fact that there is more to us than just our bodies, we have eternal souls.  Paul says that our earthly suffering is “momentary,” and “light,” and that such affliction is producing for us an “eternal… glory far beyond all comparison” (4:17).  This should make us all thank God, and shout for joy, knowing that regardless of how we may suffer here, it is only temporary, and not comparable to the eternal glory which we will receive in heaven.  So knowing this, maybe we can try to focus more on the eternal and spiritual, and less on the temporal and fleshly things of life.

Jesse LeMay