"Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we're not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God." (v. 1-2, The Message translation)
What a powerful concept to run into this morning (2 Cor 4). It was one of those Holy Spirit things where I feel like God is sitting right next to me and talking; it's so cool. My prayer yesterday and this morning before I read was that I would not be deceived as I read His Word. There are so many false teachers out there and I don't think they teach falsely on purpose (well most of them anyway), but have been deceived, fall victim to the flesh, and preach a gospel that's fitting for themselves. Since I started blogging, I want to be careful not to make the Word say what I want it to, but allow it to speak to me. So reading this verse was refreshing. My prayer still is that in whatever God speaks to me as I read, and now write, the whole truth is on display.
"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed - always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body." (v. 8-10)
What true believer can't relate to this? Well, at least the negative parts of the verse. In this age, we surely feel the weight of being hard-pressed on every side, maybe not the direct persecution the early church faced, but we feel it. The world bombards us with sex, materialism, scandals, gluttony and a general "do whatever you like if you can justify it" mentality (when ABC came out with the show Dirty Sexy Money I thought, you gotta be kidding me). For us brothas, you can't watch a sporting event, or even a cooking show for that matter, without a healthy dose of sensuality being thrown in your face.
But there is hope in this verse. Hope that, in God, we are victorious. We're not crushed, destroyed, and surely not forsaken. Our suffering - the daily battles with temptations, purity, anger, abuse, etc - is the cross we bear and the evidence of Christ in us. Not that suffering in and of itself is that evidence, but the spiritual struggle and daily 'putting to death' of those things. Starting at verse 16, I see more reason for hope - having an eternal focus. This is something I struggle with as it's hard to simply look past what's in front of me and on toward the goal. "while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (v. 18) If Paul had such a focus on eternity (Romans 8:17, 18, 1 Peter 1:6,7), you can understand why he was able to endure the trials he faced. His eyes were on Christ, not his current situation, and surely his reward was great. Just look at the fruit he produced. I suppose my reflection today would be, why couldn't that be me?
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