Description
Finding Hope
In this episode, we explore the meaning behind 2 Corinthians 4:17, where the Apostle Paul speaks about lig… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
If you are going through a really difficult time right now, this may not be the best verse for you to read. Or it may be. Let’s look at it together. Two Corinthians chapter four, verse 17. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing us for an internal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
Now, Paul, the apostle, who wrote this, had a fairly clear idea of what was going to happen to him. He’d already experienced very bad treatment. He’d been punished, he’d been whipped, he’d been thrown in jail. And he’s saying all of these terrible things that happen to us, it’s light and momentary.
He’s dismissing it as of relative low importance because he knows what’s coming. All of this short life will appear very short once we’ve entered into eternity, which is a lot longer than however many years that we have on this earth. And no matter how bad things have been, they can’t compare to how good things are going to be in that next life for those who love God and who are following Jesus Christ.
He also says, look at this word in the middle, “preparing” for us. This affliction is preparing for us that glory. We are going through a process of being disciplined, transformed, caused to grow by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When the next life comes, God wants us to be ready for it.
I don’t really know what that means, but it’s here in scripture. And I think it’s a great comfort to us knowing that whatever we’ve been through, it’s not wasted. It wasn’t pointless. No, God has a plan for our lives, all of us. And that plan, if we’ll only confess Jesus Christ as our Saviour, that plan results in permanent, everlasting salvation and glory.
