Do Not Lose Heart

• We must have such a perspective, and remind ourselves of this.

It’s like a child sitting in a dentist’s chair. It is going to be uncomfortable. The child holds tightly to his mother’s hand as the dentist drills the teeth.

The dentist keeps saying, “It’s going to be over soon, very soon. It will be done.”

And the mom will say, “Afterwards we’re going to McDonalds for the hamburger and French fries.”

The child endures the pain because he knows it will be over soon and he will have his hamburger.

Our suffering does not need to be pointless.

• Very often, God works through our trials to make us a better person.

• Paul says our troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory (v.17).

• Hardships in life keep us humble, help us lean on God, and make us wiser and stronger.

Paul says in 2 Cor 1:4, the Lord comforts us in all our troubles, “so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

• Hardships do for our spiritual muscles what a workout at the gym does for our physical muscles.

• We cannot see it with our eyes, but the inward life is being renewed and strengthened day by day.

WE DO NOT LOSE HEART WHEN…

(3) We Fix our Eyes on What We Cannot See (v.18) – our Eternal Home

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

This life is not all there is. As beautiful as it sometimes can be, God has promised us a better place.

• We will spend far more time on the other side of death – in eternity – than we will here.

• At most, you will live a hundred years on earth, but you will spend forever in eternity. Measured against eternity, out time on earth is just a blink of an eye.

Man has this instinct that longs for something beyond. This is because God has designed us that way.

• A fish would never be happy living on land, because it was made for water. An eagle could never feel satisfied if it wasn’t allowed to fly.

• We will never feel completely satisfied on earth, because we were made for more.

One day our heart will stop beating but it will not be the end of us. It will only be the end of this body and our time on earth, but it will not be the end of us.

• We will move from this temporary place to one which is eternal - heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven. We’re just here on social visit.

No man tells us about heaven because no one has ever returned from the dead, except Jesus.

• Firstly, He came from heaven and then, He came back from the dead, to assure us of this great home we have in heaven.

• If you put your trust in Jesus Christ today, you will spend the rest of eternity with Him. He is the only Saviour God has prepared to save us and bring us home.

• You need to accept Jesus Christ as Your Saviour today, if you have not done so.

Dear brothers and sisters, this world is not our home. Be encouraged.

• (1) We are inwardly being renewed by the Lord, even though physically getting weaker. (v.16)

• (2) We have an eternal glory that far outweighs our temporary hardships. (v.17)