Something was wrong; there were sounds in the night that disturbed my sleep. As I stumbled out of bed toward the rustling, I felt a wave of nausea growing. By the time I reached my 8 year old’s bedside and realized he had the stomach flu, I barely had enough time to call to my husband for help before I too succumbed. But this would be no ordinary night of stomach flu. This was not a “once and done.” One by one during the night my other boys joined Aaron and I on mats by the closest available bathroom and wave after wave sent us to our knees on the bathroom floor. By 6:00 in the morning I was concerned about the ferocity of this bug and the toll it was taking on my brood; and so, a call to the doctor ensued. He assured me that my 3 boys would be fine; he would send medication to the pharmacy, but he wanted me (after vomiting more than 10 times) to get to the hospital emergency room. You see I was in the midst of chemotherapy and he knew the danger I faced with a compromised immune system and loss of fluids. My dear husband gathered up his bald beauty with ziplock bag in hand and proceeded to whisk me away while our 15 year old daughter with tears in her eyes waved good bye—suddenly having in her care three brothers with the stomach flu and two elderly grandparents—one of which was wheelchair bound and in the late stages of Alzheimers.
You may be wondering, "Why on earth would you want to share that unsettling scene? Don’t you know no one likes hearing about the stomach flu? Just the thought can send some of us to the sink to wash our hands or to the pantry for saltine crackers and coke!" Well, what follows loses some of its weight without the details. You see, I remained in the hospital a couple of days following that escapade with the flu, and Rebekah—with her dad mostly by my side at the hospital—held down the fort at home. Not only did she keep the home fires burning, but she called me the next day to share some verses God brought to mind from
2 Corinthians 4:16-18. I remember holding the phone in my hand: “Mommy, listen to this...
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though the outer man is decaying (I could definitely attest to that), yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Here was my young daughter opening my eyes to the unseen. She herself was experiencing affliction. In some ways she had the harder part. I had people caring for me, while she was the caretaker of everyone left at home. Somehow in the midst of it all, she took time to look up to her Caretaker and was able to see beyond her circumstances to a weightier glory.
There are times in our lives when we feel like the "Afflicted Psalmist" of Psalm 102. What a precious Lord we have who does not censor us when all of the overwhelming emotions come pouring out:
Hear my prayer, O LORD! And let my cry for help come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; incline Your ear to me; in the day when I call answer me quickly. For my days have been consumed in smoke, and my bones have been scorched like a hearth. My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away, indeed, I forget to eat my bread. Because of the loudness of my groaning my bones cling to my flesh. I resemble a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places. I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop... For I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping (Psalm 102:1–7, 9).
But though life’s circumstances are at times overwhelming, God’s promises are not diminished; they are not negated. They are real; they are weighty. What we need are eyes of faith to see the unseen.
Look at the seen and the unseen in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:
The Seen The Unseen
Our outer man is decaying..........................Our inner man is being renewed day by day.
Our afflictions are momentary (temporal)............................Our glory to come is eternal.
Our afflictions are light (compared to what will be).............Our glory to come is weighty.
Our afflictions are in the present.............Our glory to come is far beyond all comparison.
Can you picture an old fashioned balance scale like the one at the top of this page? On one side place your afflictions. The scale tips heavily downward, doesn’t it? The afflicted psalmist felt the weight of it, and when trials come, we do as well. Now on the other side of the scale place the promises of God: your inner self being renewed, your future glory which is weighty and eternal. What happens to the scale? Suddenly what is so heavy (our afflictions) are lifted up, “light” in comparison with the glory to come, the glory that is actually being forged through your suffering. The key is the comparison and having eyes to see.
Lord, give us eyes of faith with which to see.
"Not only is all your affliction momentary, not only is all your affliction 'light' in comparison to eternity, and the glory there, but all of it is TOTALLY meaningful. Every millisecond of your pain from the fallen nature or fallen man, every millisecond of your misery in the path of obedience is producing a peculiar glory you will get because of that. I don’t care if it was cancer or criticism; I don’t care if it was slander or sickness. It wasn’t meaningless. It’s doing something. It’s not meaningless. Of course you can’t see what it’s doing. Don’t look to what is seen... It’s working for you an eternal weight of glory. Therefore, therefore, do not lose heart. But take these truths and day by day focus on them. Preach them to yourself every morning. Get alone with God and preach His word into your mind until your heart sings with confidence that you are new and cared for.” John Piper ~ “The Glory of God in the Sight of Eternity” http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/do-not-lose-heart
Though You Slay Me (Shane & Shane with John Piper~music video)
You may be wondering, "Why on earth would you want to share that unsettling scene? Don’t you know no one likes hearing about the stomach flu? Just the thought can send some of us to the sink to wash our hands or to the pantry for saltine crackers and coke!" Well, what follows loses some of its weight without the details. You see, I remained in the hospital a couple of days following that escapade with the flu, and Rebekah—with her dad mostly by my side at the hospital—held down the fort at home. Not only did she keep the home fires burning, but she called me the next day to share some verses God brought to mind from
2 Corinthians 4:16-18. I remember holding the phone in my hand: “Mommy, listen to this...
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though the outer man is decaying (I could definitely attest to that), yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Here was my young daughter opening my eyes to the unseen. She herself was experiencing affliction. In some ways she had the harder part. I had people caring for me, while she was the caretaker of everyone left at home. Somehow in the midst of it all, she took time to look up to her Caretaker and was able to see beyond her circumstances to a weightier glory.
There are times in our lives when we feel like the "Afflicted Psalmist" of Psalm 102. What a precious Lord we have who does not censor us when all of the overwhelming emotions come pouring out:
Hear my prayer, O LORD! And let my cry for help come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; incline Your ear to me; in the day when I call answer me quickly. For my days have been consumed in smoke, and my bones have been scorched like a hearth. My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away, indeed, I forget to eat my bread. Because of the loudness of my groaning my bones cling to my flesh. I resemble a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places. I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop... For I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping (Psalm 102:1–7, 9).
But though life’s circumstances are at times overwhelming, God’s promises are not diminished; they are not negated. They are real; they are weighty. What we need are eyes of faith to see the unseen.
Look at the seen and the unseen in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:
The Seen The Unseen
Our outer man is decaying..........................Our inner man is being renewed day by day.
Our afflictions are momentary (temporal)............................Our glory to come is eternal.
Our afflictions are light (compared to what will be).............Our glory to come is weighty.
Our afflictions are in the present.............Our glory to come is far beyond all comparison.
Can you picture an old fashioned balance scale like the one at the top of this page? On one side place your afflictions. The scale tips heavily downward, doesn’t it? The afflicted psalmist felt the weight of it, and when trials come, we do as well. Now on the other side of the scale place the promises of God: your inner self being renewed, your future glory which is weighty and eternal. What happens to the scale? Suddenly what is so heavy (our afflictions) are lifted up, “light” in comparison with the glory to come, the glory that is actually being forged through your suffering. The key is the comparison and having eyes to see.
Lord, give us eyes of faith with which to see.
"Not only is all your affliction momentary, not only is all your affliction 'light' in comparison to eternity, and the glory there, but all of it is TOTALLY meaningful. Every millisecond of your pain from the fallen nature or fallen man, every millisecond of your misery in the path of obedience is producing a peculiar glory you will get because of that. I don’t care if it was cancer or criticism; I don’t care if it was slander or sickness. It wasn’t meaningless. It’s doing something. It’s not meaningless. Of course you can’t see what it’s doing. Don’t look to what is seen... It’s working for you an eternal weight of glory. Therefore, therefore, do not lose heart. But take these truths and day by day focus on them. Preach them to yourself every morning. Get alone with God and preach His word into your mind until your heart sings with confidence that you are new and cared for.” John Piper ~ “The Glory of God in the Sight of Eternity” http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/do-not-lose-heart
Though You Slay Me (Shane & Shane with John Piper~music video)
Photo Description: Polski: Stara waga kuchenna; English: Old two pan balance
Date29 January 2011
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Author: Nikodem Nijaki
Date29 January 2011
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Author: Nikodem Nijaki
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