Turning 79 reminded me of what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17: “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.  For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long [light & momentary]. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” [NLT]

For many of us, the troubles we must face each day do not seem light and momentary. They seem very heavy and unending. Many of us wake up each day having to face difficult situations. The loss of someone we dearly love. Financial problems. Prodigal children. Aging. Loneliness. The list is endless and individual. Everyone is wasting away. Everyone has some kind of trouble.

But is just having trouble enough to achieve that eternal glory that Paul describes? I know people that have had plenty of troubles, have had them their entire lives, but it seems despite that, they haven’t achieved anything at all. No, just having troubles doesn’t guarantee anything. It is allowing those troubles to work in us that result in glory.

Paul goes on “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.”  [vs18]

If all we ever do is focus on what we can see, our troubles will never work in us a great glory. It is in looking beyond what we can see, to behold what remains unseen, that will achieve for us an eternal glory that far outweighs the problems that surround us daily.

We must look past the problem and see Jesus, the anchor of our soul. We must depend on God’s Spirit daily to teach us how to handle, get through, endure, overcome, these light and momentary troubles. We must seek to grow amid the problems. When we seek God’s face, His wisdom, His help, then the problems and troubles we face will achieve for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them. Just as Paul promised.