Do Not Lose Heart

All of us get tired. We all get discouraged. So tonight when the minister talked about why we shouldn’t give up, or lose heart, my ears perked up.

You see, all this month I am blogging specifically about breast cancer but fighting illness, any life threatening illness, can cause people to want to give up.

The minister’s message tonight was from 2 Corinthians 4: 16-17

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

The apostle Paul wrote this and he knew what he was talking about. He experienced his share of troubles.

The minister who delivered our sermon knew what he talking about too. Last year his wife suffered a massive stroke, during surgery her heart was accidentally pierced, she almost died several different times. Slowly she has fought her way back but because of the stroke she lost most of her eye sight. She can see glimmers of light and fuzzy shapes. That’s all. In the blink of an eye her life (and his) was forever altered.

The minister said, “There are days when we count our problems. Then there are days when we count our blessings. The blessings always out number our problems.”

Thinking about what Paul and the minister said I looked up this passage in a commentary and did a little more reading.

Our ultimate hope when we are experiencing terrible illness, persecution or pain is the realization that this life is not all there is-there is life after death! Knowing that we will live forever with God in a place without sin and suffering can help us live above the pain that we face in this life. From the Life Application Study Bible.

If you are tired, discouraged or feeling hopeless I encourage you to read 2 Corinthians Chapters 4 and 5. And here is another good article that might help. http://www.heartlight.org/articles/201210/20121005_indarkness.html