Liquid Fast - Week 3, Day 2

Do Not Lose Heart

Hi guys!! Pastor Dave here.

Continuing along with yesterday's theme, as we look at 2 Corinthians 4, we come across this phrase again, "Therefore, we do not lose heart". The Apostle Paul claims to know a way out. Is he clueless or does he have a magical formula? To fully appreciate the weight of his words, you need to have some idea of what his life had been like. Paul had an encounter with something beyond the walls of this world and ever since then, things have grown extremely difficult. In his own words, he has...

"been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received... forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, 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 known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food." 2 Corinthians 11:23-27

You get the picture. His life has been hard. It has been war. He has even fasted.

In response to this, my mind asks, so how Paul, how? How did you survive let alone not lose heart? As we walk together through this last week of our fast, take time to look at your personal struggles and reasons for fasting and ask this question... How do I not lose heart?

READ and FEED: Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

JOURNAL: What is Paul saying? What does "Look at what you cannot see" mean to us? Initially, this doesn't sound helpful. In fact, it sounds confusing. Actually, Paul is asking us to "see" differently than we usually do. In Ephesians 1, Paul says this, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened." Paul is asking us to appreciate one of the great truths of the Bible: we live in two worlds- or more accurately, in one world with two parts, the one that we can see, and the other that we cannot. We are urged, for our good, for the sake of not losing heart, to understand that the unseen world is, in fact, vastly more significant and more real than the world we can see with our eyes.

If you are like me, a lot of what weighs me down and causes me to lose heart are the things I can see; the work that isn't done, the money that isn't available, and the problems that aren't resolved. Although it may not feel like it today, the Apostle Paul speaks out of experience, that these troubles will help achieve for us an eternal glory that far outweighs what we are experiencing today. In fact, someday in heaven, the benefits from persevering through these challenges will make them look light and momentary.

PRAY: Ask God to help you see with the eyes of your heart today, to focus on the more significant things that are not seen... to believe that God has something better for you in the future... and to have the courage to not lose heart.