Text: 2 Corinthians 4
In What the Bible is all About Dr. Henrietta C. Mears writes, “By this time, a hundred years or more had passed since the Jews had returned to Jerusalem after the captivity in Babylon. Malachi is the last prophet to speak to Israel in her own land…The first enthusiasm after the return from Babylon had spent itself. Following a period of revival (Nehemiah 10:28-39), the people had become cold religiously and lax morally. The prophet Malachi came as a reformer…He dealt with a people perplexed, with spirits failing, whose faith in God seemed to be in danger of collapse” (page 347).
Have you ever felt that way? You know, thinking something was going to happen and being perplexed when it failed to materialize; or, having spent all your enthusiasm believing things would be different, but they hadn’t changed…yet.
The Apostle Paul spoke in today’s text regarding the need to sustain. And though Malachi exhorted his hearers to “Remember the law of Moses…” (Malachi 4:4) it was the New Covenant which was Paul’s source of strength and sustenance in times of perplexity and persecution (cf. 2 Corinthians 3; 2 Corinthians 4:8-11). “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16 ESV).
How did Paul sustain his faith? “… we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18 KJV). Our eyes must be fixed on the unseen things beyond, the glory that the flesh cannot behold. When we secure our stare on the unseen, we turn away from present afflictions as momentary and perplexities as springboards to greater understanding realizing that our goal is beyond this world and in His hands!
Prayer Focus
Release any frustration, concern, anxiety, or perplexity that is weighing heavy on your spirit and let the Holy Spirit renew your inner man with the cool, refreshing drenching of His water. Let Jesus’ words from His sermon speak deep into your soul: “”Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25 ESV).