In and Out
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Bursitis. That’s what the doctor called it. It makes a good companion to the occasional flare-up of tendonitis that afflicts me. Oh, then there is the “tennis elbow,” even though I’ve never been a player of tennis. My old joints remind me often of the abuse I have inflicted upon them. I’m doing my best to keep the old man in shape. Like a vintage auto, it requires constant attention and upkeep. And I realize that eventually time catches up and with Paul, I confess that my “outer self is wasting away.”
All is not lost though. Because thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ, my “inner self is being renewed day by day.” I’m going in two different directions. The outer is in decline while the inner is going from glory to glory.
Further, it is not as if these two parts of me, the outer man and the inner man, are completely distinct and disconnected from each other. The inner man is affected by the outer. It is helping to prepare me for “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” It is because of that that I can look at these things as “light momentary afflictions.”
It is all about perspective. If we look at that which is unseen, it puts in perspective the things that are seen. If we keep our focus on that which is eternal, it helps us deal better with the transient things.
And in that way, the transient, temporary suffering of this life, the wasting away of our outer man becomes a servant to our inner man. Every groan now reminds us to look in hope toward the glory we will experience then.
