When You Need Encouragement

"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 . . ."

-2 Corinthians 4:16-17 ESV

When boxers step into the ring, many years of training and preparation have preceded the fight. For each fight, they also have a two to three-month training camp. This preparation is grueling. It includes hours and hours of strength training, cardio, skill-specific training, and boxing each day.

The grueling training is doing something. It's not meaningless. It's not pointless. It's preparation. It's purposeful. But what if the boxer gave up in the training camp? What if he didn't see how it was preparing him?

That's what we often do. Think about how this is similar to the trials and sufferings that are present in our lives. They are frustrating. They may feel meaningless and pointless. They don't feel like preparation for anything. But they are. We know that because God's inspired Scriptures tell us that in 2 Corinthians.

In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Paul tells us that we don't have to "lose heart" in the middle of our trials. We can remain encouraged.

How? | In verse 16, Paul tells us that our bodies are decaying. We are passive. (He uses a present passive verb.) It happens as we age. That's our outer self. No matter how active you are in avoiding a decaying body, it just happens. Not fun a thought; I know. But, he says, our inner self is being renewed every day. We are also passive in this. (He also uses a present passive verb here.) In other words, though our bodies are wasting away, God is renewing our souls each day. That's how we can avoid losing heart in our struggles. We need God's renewal each day in our souls.

But he also tells us why we can avoid losing heart in our trials.

Why? | Here is the reason we don't need to lose heart in our sufferings: the present suffering we are going through is preparing an eternity for us that is filled with such happiness that we won't be able to compare it to anything we've ever experienced. Moreover, when we look back, this present affliction will look "light" and "momentary". The trick, as Paul tells us, is to look at the things that are not seen rather than the things that are seen. In other words, we must think about this eternal joy that is ours that these present afflictions are preparing for us. If, instead, we get fixated on the things that are seen and are causing us trouble, then it will be really tough to avoid losing heart. Put differently, focus on your trouble and you will feel depressed; focus on the eternal bliss the trouble is preparing for you and you will be encouraged.

(If you want to examine this passage even further, my phrasing outline is at the bottom of this article.)

Like a boxer, we are in a training camp. But it is a spiritual training camp. Sometimes we forget that. We forget that these sufferings, problems, and trials are not meaningless. They are not purposeless. They are not pointless.

The afflictions are "light" and "momentary" (v. 17a). And they are "preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison" (v. 17b).

You can do this. You can make it. Think about the things that are not seen. Don't lose heart. Onward.

A Phrasing Outline

[2Co 4:16-18 ESV]

16 So we do not lose heart.

Though our outer self is wasting away,

our inner self is being renewed

day by day.

17 For this light momentary affliction

is preparing for us

an eternal weight of glory

beyond all comparison,

18 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.