Do Not Lose Heart

Read aloud

Paul has just described pressure, weakness, and the prospect of resurrection. Now he returns to the conclusion: he does not lose heart. His outer self is wasting away, but his inner self is being renewed day by day. He is not denying the body's decline. He is saying that decay is not the only reality at work.

Paul calls present affliction light and momentary in comparison with the eternal weight of glory it is producing. He is not calling every pain small to the person who feels it. He is setting temporary suffering beside a future glory so great that the comparison changes what suffering means.

That is why Paul fixes his eyes on what is unseen. The unseen is not imaginary; it is the eternal reality of God's promise, resurrection, and glory. What can be measured by sight is temporary, however solid it feels today.

Paul's confidence rests on the God who raised Jesus and will raise His people, as he has just said. Suffering is producing glory beyond comparison, not simply passing the time until something better arrives. God is at work both in the hidden renewal of today and in the future He has promised.