Devotion:
Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-18.
Life can sometimes seem like a long, hot summer (like we have recently experienced). There is little, if any, break from the “heat” (in whatever form you may experience that). You know from experience the “weather” is going to change at some point, but an end appears not to be anytime soon.
My dad had grown up on a farm and he made sure that I got to experience some of farm life. One of those I remember most is getting to help put hay in the barn. Walking through the field, picking up those bales and tossing them on the wagon, then handling them again as we got them stacked in the barn was very hot work. There were many times when I did not think I could go on.
The writer of this letter to the early Christians acknowledges that in this life of faith, there are times when “we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” But he reminds them (and us) that because of what Jesus has done for us and offers to us, “we do not lose heart.” We will not give up, even in those “summer” times of our lives when we are faced with situations and issues that tempt us to do that very thing. Why can we do this? Because “for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs…” anything we may be facing at any given point in this life. Even those long, hot “summers” are temporary when compared to our whole life and certainly when compared to eternity.
Personal Worship Option:
What most tempts you to “lose heart” in your faith journey? Pray for the vision to see beyond that struggle and the strength to endure through it. Be assured that the Lord will provide both.
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