Saturday, November 10, 2012

Affliction and Prayer


I stumbled across a tweet from @Christianaudio that commended a website called theversesproject.com. This is a website, a blog of sorts, that takes verses from the Bible, gives a commentary on it and a downloadable song using only the words from the verse cited. The recent post from the blog that I think stood out for me was this one:

2 Corinthians 4:17-18For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 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.

The commentary on these two verses they gave was this:

 “Affliction is something all humans deal with. Rich or poor, young or old, regardless of ethnicity or nationality, we all suffer. While many people think their belief in God should function as a "get out of jail free card" from any form of opposition or difficulty, these verses actually teach us that Christians are to look at suffering through a different lens. We must learn to see that behind the affliction is a surprising truth: that God is using that very affliction to prepare you for eternity ("an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison").

This verse isn't intended minimize the pain or suffering we may feel, but it is rather a call to see our pain in light of greater or "truer truths". As Francis Schaeffer said, there are major & minor themes in the story of life. While suffering (the things that are seen) is a true theme, in the grand scope it is a minor theme simply because one day suffering, pain, & death shall forever be banished upon Christ's return and restoration of the new heavens & new earth (the things that are unseen). This return is what Schaeffer would call a major theme, one that eventually trumps the minor themes.

So, friends, if you look out with your eyes of flesh and see only heartache and pain, look again with eyes of faith. While your eyes of flesh falter at the sight you see, your eyes of faith see a beautiful story unfolding that you would not believe even if you were told!”

Now we also see that in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians we see that we “Christian’s (are) God’s ambassador(s), with a spiritual and glorious ministry, finding in Christ consolation in all his sufferings and sufficiency for every testing.”(a)

And specifically in Chapter 4 it shows that “A steadfast adherence to the truths of the Gospel, backed by constancy and sincerity, will commend the servant of God to the opinion of wise men. They should not be of proud spirit, but realize that they themselves are but vessels of little worth and in their perplexities for Christ’s sake let them know that God is able to support them and in Him they should ever trust and hope”(a)

Further in the two verses prior to 17 and 18 we see that 15“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

How do we apply this to our prayer life? Oftentimes I think we find that our most sincere and desperate prayers are in times of need and suffering, ours and our loved ones. Our hearts weigh heaviest when they are full of the burden of pain. So while these verses graciously given to us by God may not fully relieve that pain, it may give us understanding and hope. And we are, if nothing else, hopeful beings, especially in Christ.

Therefor whether it is an undesired result from an important election, or really bad weather, or may God forbid the loss of a loved one, we need to not lose heart because of God’s ultimate plan of Grace. We must not lose sight of it; if you think that you are, pray. Ask your Father to guide you, ask him for vision, but remember the ‘the things unseen are eternal” Something’s only God knows and is meant to know.

(a) From Summarized Bible:Complete Summary of The New Testament by Keith Brooks

 

 

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