Five times I received 39 lashes from Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods by the Romans. Once I was stoned by my enemies. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys I faced danger from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the open country, dangers on the sea, and dangers among false brothers; labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold and lack of clothing. 2 Corinthians 11:24-27
Therefore, we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So, we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
My words…
Lord, You knew when You interrupted Saul’s journey to Damascus, that he would suffer in Your name. You chose a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, one who had reclined at the best tables with the choicest foods at every holy day and festival. He probably hadn’t suffered a day in his life. Then You gave him a mission, and off he went, into the clutches of persecution. Paul’s hardships were in direct correlation to his compassion for blanketing the world with Your gospel. The harder he preached, the harder he was persecuted. His body bore the bruises, welts, and scars of a man intensely focused on his radical mission – Your mission. In my mind, I see him, clinging to a piece of driftwood on the open sea, his muscles quivering with weakness, his tongue longing for fresh water. His body was slowly being destroyed, but all the while, his spirit was being renewed. I consider his affliction heavy, but he considered it light. He kept his spirit focused on what he could not see, for he knew – he knew – that all of the searing pain, all of the degradation would weigh as much as the tip of one strand of one feather in comparison to the weighty glory with which You would reward him in eternity. And that was all he needed to know.
Prayer for others
When I read this passage, my mind fills with images of everyone I know who is afflicted. Their cells are being radiated or poisoned in response to cancer. Their medicine cabinet is filled with what they need to live with a bearable amount of pain. Their eyesight and hearing diminish by the day. They bear the exhaustion of caring for a special needs child. Their affliction is heavy. So I pray that each of them, You know them by name, will not give up, but will focus on what is unseen, on what is eternal, and know that although their bodies are being destroyed, their spirits are being renewed each day! Their afflictions are a whisper compared to the shout of Your glory they will experience one day.
More praise
You, the absolutely incomparable eternal God, hear each anguished cry of the afflicted. You see the hidden and visible scars of those who have suffered trauma. You know the number of their tears. And it is because of Your love that You hold an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory far heavier than all of the afflictions of Your children combined since creation. Hallelujah!
