The events of 2020 were bad. And, unfortunately, for many, 2021 may get worse. As Christians, how do we respond when life is absolutely overwhelming? We profess that our faith gives us strength “many trials of various kinds.” We are instructed to “count it all joy.” Yet, when things go from bad to worse, how do those scripture truths hold up as threads in the fabric of our lives. How do we keep from being overwhelmed? Or do we? Or perhaps the question is not ‘how do we keep from being overwhelmed,’ but are we ‘overwhelmed by the wrong things?’ In 2 Corinthians 4, the Apostle Paul points to this paradox, as he writes.
We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Paul admonishes us to be overwhelmed by the grace of God, not the gravity of the present crisis. Are you overwhelmed? Overwhelmed by fear of what will happen next? Or overwhelmed with faith in the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Listen as we examine 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 and consider the calling as Christians to be overwhelmed by the things that will last forever.
River City Reformed Church 