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Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Full disclosure, 84 years ago today, my day was born. As many of you know, he is dying of cancer. It is possible that he will not make this milestone. Last Thursday, the nurse told the family not to leave him alone, and so we been holding vigil at his bedside since then. His diagnosis was made about 10 months ago, at which time he was given about 3-4 months to live. So, it feels like it has been a long journey.

Most of us feel exhausted by this ongoing pandemic. The shifting regulations from our government have caused even greater despair. Quite a few in this congregation are carrying grief in their hearts which came during COVID and sometimes because of COVID. There are those among of us who continue to carry struggles which began long ago, some of which were intensified by the pandemic.

In the Immanuel news this past weekend it was shared that some pastors in Nicaragua had not had a day off from ministry in five years. The church has been growing rapidly and is under a moderate amount of persecution. Criticism of the government is considered rebellion and so pastors are careful not to criticize because sometimes spies are within their own congregations.

As I read about these pastors, I wondered how they manage. I then wondered if they understand Paul\u2019s words in our text in a very personal way. Paul has been writing about his personal struggle for the church; this struggle was taking a literal toll on his body. When he writes that \u2018outwardly, we are wasting away\u2019, he meant it literally.

But he was okay with that. This was not a matter of self-mutilation in any way. It was simply that he was willing to give his all for the cause of Jesus. He saw that as his body took its bruises, he was being inwardly renewed. To echo his earlier words, \u201cAnd we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord\u2019s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit\u201d (2 Corinthians 3:18). That transformation was all that mattered to him.

I think Paul is building on Jesus\u2019 rather famous prayer, \u201cGive us this day our daily bread\u201d. The church has long understood that this includes spiritual as well as physical food. Paul is testifying that God was giving him and his fellow workers enough grace for each day, one day at a time. We all want to flourish, and God wants us to flourish, too. But Jesus was clear, that first we must learn to pick up our cross. God gives us grace to pick up that cross and flourish even while we are carrying it. This, I think, is what Paul is saying.

As we so clearly saw during Lent, the Christian life is first dying to self before we can be raised in Christ. And it is when we die to self that we discover the eternal perspective that Paul advocates. Yes, there is struggle and suffering and cross bearing and death in this life. But it will all seem like nothing when we are taken fully into glory.

When Paul says, that \u201cWe are being renewed day by day,\u201d he means that each day we are made a little bit new as in re-creation. We catch glimpses of that glory, but the full picture we cannot see in this life. And so, we have an eternal perspective. We believe that God is doing this, even when we cannot see it with these eyes. We press on trusting that God is at work in our struggles; someday we will see the glory; then we will know it was worth the struggle.