Will it ever end? You know, that experience that continues to wear you down, that you cannot escape, that daily drains your energies. Many of us have known those who suffered either from lingering physical pain or the anguish of perpetual turmoil in their circumstances from which they could find no relief. In those circumstances it is a small comfort to be assured Jesus knows our griefs and carries our sorrows. Theology is a short comfort no matter how true it may be.
Paul’s ‘light afflictions’ were both the physical beatings and the opposition of those who had at an earlier time been his compatriots in confronting what we now think of as Christianity. Often deprived of physical comfort and frequently going without creature comforts or the stability of a home life, he kept looking to the LORD for his refreshment. Remember the Philippian jail and after an evening of torture, singing and praying while bound in the stocks unable to tend to the wounds while pests tormented? He had discovered the secret of focusing upon the LORD and not the circumstances, of living beyond the present moment and enjoying the refreshing that only can come by the Spirit. There is a putting into perspective the momentary over against the eternal, the now against the forever:
This wasn’t a ‘mind over matter’ or even a denial of the reality of the natural but rather a focus on what God was accomplishing despite the momentary. There is an awareness of the Christ-life that had been lived out incarnate and the outcome of the cost that Jesus had paid. That God was accomplishing the eternal was not lost on Paul.
Looking beyond the moment, looking toward the outcome, that ‘this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison’ did not remove the pain but it did give it context and reminded Paul of the worthwhile-ness of enduring to the end. ‘He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into His presence.’
Now that is a hope to live in!