2 Corinthians 4:17–18: “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” (NAU).
What will we focus on? Will we concentrate on the problems, the difficulties we are facing, either personally, in our local communities, nationally, or internationally? Or, will we look at those things as viewed in light of eternity?
Those two options yield very different perspectives, don’t they? When we look at things from a temporal viewpoint, it is very easy to get discouraged. Things can quickly take on seemingly insurmountable auras. Humanly speaking, outright hopeless despair can soon follow. How many of us have friends that seem to live in that land? Perhaps we’ve even tended to spend time there ourselves. Over the past 18–20 months, I will admit that at times, I have.
Notice how things change when we look at circumstances through “eternal” eyes. The passage tells us to focus on the unseen, not the seen. What we see is temporal, but God’s domain which we currently do not directly see, is eternal.
That is a great encouragement. The world that we see around us is not eternal. The troubles we, as believers, face here are not eternal. Covid is not eternal; even better, sin is not eternal. Note how that impacts us. The things that seem insurmountable—affliction specifically—are instead momentary and light, not the all-consuming things they sometimes appear to be. Those things even produce in us an eternal weight of glory, glory that is beyond all comparison. How that works out is beyond me. Yet, it is a matter of perspective: temporal vs. eternal.
As Christians, we also need to remember that for those who are not Christians, the temporal perspective is the only option that exists. Even for some in the so-called Emergent church, along with their allies, the temporal perspective is viewed as the only viable option. Indeed some authors have even railed against the “eternal” view, saying that it is the source of great harm, the cause of almost irreparable damage to this world. The Scriptures say otherwise. It is only from the “eternal” perspective that things come into a truly proper focus.
For 2022, let us remember to focus on those things that are eternal. Let us seek to confront the very real temporal issues that exist in this world from an eternal perspective.
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