“We don’t lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we don’t fix our eyes on what is seen, but on what is unseen. What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:16-18
Lord Jesus, it’s never been easier for me to misplace things—keys, phone, my “man-purse,” a parked car, a book I’m reading, things I put in a “secure” place only to forget where that “secure” place is. Close friends tell me I’m not alone (Whew). Alas, I wish my Apple “Find My” app would work on everything.
But as I meditate on the Scripture above (2 Cor.4:16-18), I greatly appreciate the difference between misplacing something, and “losing heart.” Misplacing is most often a memory issue. “Where did I put that thing?” “Losing heart” is a gaze issue.
What am I intentionally looking at, gazing upon, staring down, gawking at, intrigued with, curious about? With what am I filling my imagination, daydreams, thought-life and heart-chamber? I can have a fading-memory, and yet grow a bigger, peace-filled, hope-smitten Gospel-heart. That’s what I want, Jesus.
I want to be more like the aging apostle Paul, whose “light and momentary troubles” (2 Cor. 11:21-33) make me feel like a whiner, wuss, and wimp. But in all his heartaches, crises, suffering, aging-body-challenges, he saw you and our eternal inheritance 1000 times more clearly and dearly.
Jesus, help me and my friends spend less time worrying about memory loss, and spend more energy, like Paul, in gaze-fixing. So Very Amen.