Changing our Focus

II Corinthians 4:7-18

One of our constant battles as Christians is to live by faith and not by sight. That is because sight is what comes naturally to us. We see, and therefore, we respond. It does not take long for us to learn that "seeing is believing". We must remember what Jesus told Thomas after he said that he would not believe Jesus had rose from the dead unless he could see the nail prints in His hands and put his hand in the spear wound in His side. When Jesus appeared to Thomas, he called Him, "My Lord and my God". Jesus said to Thomas, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29).

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But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 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 also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So then death is working in us, but life in you.  And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,  knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.  For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

II Corinthians 4:7–18

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Paul tells the church at Corinth that they need to focus on the things that are unseen, rather than the things that are seen (v. 17). Why in the world would he say this? Was Paul telling the Corinthians to live in a fantasy world? No, on the contrary, he was calling them to live in their reality.

It is so easy for us to get discouraged and disheartened. We look at the circumstances around us, and we feel like there is no hope. All we see is that which is right in front of us, and we lose sight of those things that are really important. We see trouble on the news, and we isolate from others in this dangerous world. We hear of Christians being persecuted and so we hide our faith so that we are not one of those in the headlines. We receive a negative diagnosis, and we feel abandoned by God. On and on this list can go. We focus on the evidence we observe in this world, and doubt God and His word.

Paul reminds the Corinthians that even though they face persecution, they bear in their bodies the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus. It is that hope that they are fastening their eyes upon. They believe the Word of God, and therefore they proclaim the Word of God. They are walking by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7). As such, they know that everything they are enduring is temporary. Even their very lives are temporary, but that which they will experience in Heaven is eternal.

It is hard for us to imagine that suffering in this world is something that we can look beyond and be thankful to God that He is doing a good work in our suffering. We often struggle with the goodness of God when we encounter bad things in this life. God's focus is not perfecting us for this world, but rather for perfecting us for the world to come. I must remember that the sufferings of this body are temporary because this body is temporary. If I think like that, and I thank God that He is doing a good work in me, then it will change my perspective. If I remember that the pleasures of this world are temporary, I will spend less time pursuing them. Paul calls us to CHANGE OUR FOCUS!

Father, so often we desire heaven, but we want it here and now. Being short-sighted, we want stuff and health in this world. We forget that our reward is in Heaven. Help us to be thankful to You for Your goodness, to change our focus, and to live pursuing Your will as long as we are in this world.