"Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. " II Corinthians 4:16
It seems that everywhere we turn, there are people who are suffering deeply. A woman who had blood clots in her lungs and almost died, was hit by a truck as she was recovering. She is again recovering. A man who suffers from pain every day now has additional pain as a bone infection is being fought and his mobility has huge boundaries…again. A woman fighting cancer…. A family whose child has disappeared right under their noses…. A man who loses his house. A woman who loses her job of many years. On and on it goes. Look at your own life. With what do you struggle? Chronic pain? Acute heartache? Depression? Chronic Headaches? Through it all, God assures us that the "inward man is being renewed every day".
I don't know about you, but in the past few years, that truth is what I cling to. No matter what the outward circumstances, I can trust God when He says that our inward man is being renewed every day. Family heartache, physical hindrances, job reversals - it happens to each of us. Yet, we can cling to the fact that, in our spirits (where the Spirit of God dwells), all is well as we are renewed each day…becoming more and more of who God created us to be - more whole, stronger, more loving, kinder, more patient. What is amazing is that He can use the outward to renew the inward person.
Yes, sometimes - many times - it is painful. But this we KNOW, because God also said in
I Cor. 4:18:
"For which cause we faint not…. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is worth a far more exceeding and weight of eternal glory."
Let's not faint. Let's keep our eyes fixed on God who promises us so much good here (even if only in the inward man) and hereafter.
Heavenly Father, please help me. Please give me the sense that You are renewing me every day in that part of me which will live forever. In Jesus' name. Amen.
'Reflections of God's Glory' copyright 2012 by Dawn Ulmer deu49097@yahoo.com
