Preparing for Glory
It’s no secret that 2020 has been a tough year. We’ve dealt with a global pandemic that has upended almost everything we’re used to. Some of us have suffered loss, others have faced financial woes, and the political climate has become insufferable.
In times like this, it’s easy to react with despair. It’s easy to give up or to believe that things aren’t going to get better - and that they certainly can’t be any worse. But that’s not the way we as Christians are supposed to approach difficulties.
God’s Word is full of admonitions to look to Him when we face adversity. Jesus told us:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Jesus’ brother James reminded us:
Count it all joy, my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
But one particular passage has stuck out to me recently:
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
When you’re going through hard times, it’s tough to thing of things as light and momentary, but in light of eternity, our troubles really do pale by comparison.
But the most powerful part of these verses is verse 17: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…”
The apostle Paul doesn’t say that our hard times are leading or pointing to glory. Our difficulties are “preparing for us an eternal weight of glory.”
Let that sink in. John Piper says about these verses:
This glory, that God will show us and give us, is beyond imagination. “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). And more than that. There are special glories in the age to come brought about by your particular afflictions. That’s what verse 17 says: Your affliction is “preparing [producing] for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
When you' find yourself in the middle of hard times, think about 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Commit it to memory. Take encouragement from it. And praise God for what He’s preparing you for in your difficulties.
Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash