I don’t know about you, but I have moments when I become overwhelmed with the daily routine, deadlines and the “stuff” of living. Rather than staying focused on God, who has it under control, I frantically try to take charge myself concentrating more on the problems before me than the “problem solver!” It’s in those moments I need something to help me “RE-focus.” One of those “RE-focus” moments recently was when I began to meditate on a familiar passage and found rich pearls of wisdom and strength from it.
II Corinthians 4:16-18
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 eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes NOT on what is SEEN,
But on what is UNSEEN,
Since what is SEEN is TEMPORARY,
And what is UNSEEN is ETERNAL.
When you are in the middle of a troubling situation it never seems “light and temporary.” In fact, it often seems HEAVY and ETERNAL! It’s like when we have one of those all out, all day cloudy, rainy days that lingers….not only engulfing one day but three, four or a week! You begin to feel as if it is raining everywhere, pondering if the sun will ever smile at us again. It is in those dark moments we need to “re-set” our outlook. It’s like our cell phones or computers…sometimes they go bonkers; and the only solution is to reboot (turn it off and back on – even removing the battery is occasionally necessary).
As Christians, when life piles on hard, almost smothering us in the process, we need to “re-boot,” “re-focus” or “re-charge.” Where do we go to “re-boot?” Well, we often don’t go where we need to. We substitute something that we think will make us feel better like melting into our chair watching mind numbing T.V. (that’s me –I admit it); overeating (me again); avoiding the thing that has us in a tizzy (me again, again) or simply throwing our hands up and leaving town (I don’t usually have that option – Ha!).
In reality when LIFE stampedes and decimates our spirit we need to stop and “re-boot” with God’s Word. We can substitute all these other things, but none satisfies our thirst like the life quenching water of God’s Word for our dusty soul!