What Are You Looking At?

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:18

One look around is often all it takes for discouragement to enter the scene.

Now, I like to think of myself as a “glass half full” kind of girl, but I have to confess that can be a little hard when the glass looks nine-tenths empty! You know how it is… The numbers stack up a bit higher on the bill side than the income side… Or maybe it’s relationship troubles… Or dissatisfaction at work or school… Or something altogether different. Circumstances can be discouraging at times!

I’m pretty sure the apostle Paul would agree with me. I mean, if ever a person endured difficult circumstances, Paul was the guy. Arrested over and over again… Imprisoned… Shipwrecked - three times! And if all that wasn’t enough, the treatment he got from his “friends” and “supporters” would be enough to send anyone over the edge! He poured his life into churches, only to have them turn on him, criticize him, and just generally aggravate him… If Paul had just taken a moment to consider his circumstances, he would certainly have been within his rights to throw the world’s biggest pity party!

But he looked beyond his circumstances. He didn’t just look toward the day when he might be free from imprisonment. He wasn’t hoping for a time when his circumstances would improve. Paul was focused on things that could not be seen with physical eyes. He had an internal perspective - looking to the Spirit of God within him for the peace He came to give. And Paul had an eternal perspective - he was looking to the day that he would put off his physical body with all of its suffering and troubles and be united with Christ in heaven forever.

We still reap the benefits of Paul’s perspective on life. He left us many God-inspired words to instruct and encourage us along this journey of life on earth.

Lord, make me more like Paul, that I may look past the troubles I can see, to the things of Your Spirit that will last forever…

…Just a thought…