Let your Light shine

2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

This chapter four of Paul’s epistle has always spoken to me, it is highlighted in many colors in my favorite Bible, with notes, and times when God spoke to me. Paul somewhat begins to open the doors to deep within himself, he gives a glimpse of what it is to live for Christ. Paul never wants to draw attention to himself, but here he pens of the inward battle. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed– 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. Paul always related any and all of his sufferings as an honor, to relate his troubles in any way, in a very small way to Christ. He related to Jesus in these tribulations, both physical and mental to the immeasurable way Jesus suffered for us. Paul also saw how he was to focus on the glory that awaited him eternally in Heaven, for how these troubles were but for a small minute, a speck of sand in the hourglass of eternity.

There are none of us that don’t have hidden struggles, more than the physical ones that others see. I have not opened the doors that deep within me to anyone, only giving peaks to relate or seek help Lord willing. The physical pain, the weakened vessel, this body of mine is failing much sooner than I anticipated; only those closest to me see what I cannot hide. The inner war of the mind, of depression and anxiety, is my “thorn in the flesh.” The fading memory is something I try to laugh about while is terrifies me deep within. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. But…..for any and all of these things, I try to focus on eternity, to focus on investing in people, focus on sharing my faith in real ways, not in acts of religion. Our only investments that truly matter is our relationship with Jesus Christ, and how we evangelize to the sphere of influence that he has given us.

What are your struggles? What if your hidden struggles are the same as someone you see every day? What if they can’t cope through their faith like you try to do? What is they need to look at eternity, and not their present despair? 13 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, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. There is nothing you have ever dealt with, are dealing with now, that has not passed through God’s sovereign hands. No low in your life, cannot be used to draw glory to God; from deliverance, to coping and comfort, to healing, to sharing it from an eternal perspective no matter the time of suffering here. Paul writes of this in chapter four in detail. Why not let God use your struggles, to encourage someone around you today? Why not speak up today, and let his light, shine in their darkness, through you.