2022_09_09 Insight Post- Emma Keeton
This week’s reading- 2 Corinthians 3-4
I am writing this post after hearing the news that Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96. It has been said that her long reign was marked with a sense of duty, and she had a determination to dedicate her life to her throne and her people. Her constancy will be missed by many in the Commonwealth, but today I am reminded that nothing on this earth lasts forever. Our bible verses this week echo this reality:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not in what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
A good number of us live in the moment. We deal with the things of life as they come our way, pressing through each problem. Paul tells us that although we have troubles, they can produce something in us that is of eternal value. What if we not only asked God to help us through a problem, but also to transform us?
The church-wide book study “The Deeply Formed Life” by Rich Villodas is about just that. God can transform us when we allow Him to show us the stuff of our souls. When we have troubles, our brokenness rises to the surface. We can choose to live in the chaos or use it as the catalyst to change. The author shares an analogy of our lives being like an iceberg. What can be seen above the water is only 10%, the other 90% is hidden from everyone, even us. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, he will graciously and lovingly start to show us that 90%. Let’s not be content to live on the surface so the things of this life can instead achieve for us “an eternal glory.”
Prayer
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has planted eternity in the human heart. God, would you help us fix our eyes on what is unseen, since what is seen is just temporary? Help us to grow as a community in having an eternal perspective. May you stretch each one of us this Fall as we take part in the church-wide study. In Jesus’ name.
Emma Keeton
Prayer Team Lead