2 Corinthians 4:16 is on the when I get in trouble list of first scriptures. It's easy to find ourselves facing situations that press us to give up. For the caregiver this can be many times throughout one day! It can be so tempting to lose heart...Even our "good" days can be full of trials and it the loneliness experienced by many can push us into a corner of despair.
But Paul is instructing the Corinthian church here to not lose heart...even if the outer man is decaying, or seems to be losing strength.The book of 2 Corinthians (is really the fourth letter to the church in Corinth) was written during one of the toughest times in the apostle's life. He has been through the ringer (check it out in chapter 11) and yet he still picked up his pen and wrote to them that it was no time to lose heart! Wow, what spiritual stamina the man must have had. Or perhaps it was just a genuine loving care for the church there at Corinth. This helps me see a softer side of this great spiritual warrior; a fathering side..he loved the Christians so much that he laid down his own situation, his own discomfort...to write them and encourage them to continue in their walk of faith!
I hope it's okay if I say this (of course it is - it's my blog! lol)...but haven't we done the same? Do we not lay down our own lives every day to see our loved one cared for properly? Have we not turned out sites from our own discomforts to ensure another's comfort? Yes, we have.
So do not give up, and don't lose heart. You are full of God's wonderful compassion just like Paul was. God will renew our inner man day by day as we continue to take care of His people. He will give us the strength to carry on this journey (He knows we cannot do it on our own!) So smile. He is renewing you today. Remember Isaiah 40:39 - as we wait on Him (for our strength) our strength is indeed renewed.
Renew can mean several things:
But Paul is instructing the Corinthian church here to not lose heart...even if the outer man is decaying, or seems to be losing strength.The book of 2 Corinthians (is really the fourth letter to the church in Corinth) was written during one of the toughest times in the apostle's life. He has been through the ringer (check it out in chapter 11) and yet he still picked up his pen and wrote to them that it was no time to lose heart! Wow, what spiritual stamina the man must have had. Or perhaps it was just a genuine loving care for the church there at Corinth. This helps me see a softer side of this great spiritual warrior; a fathering side..he loved the Christians so much that he laid down his own situation, his own discomfort...to write them and encourage them to continue in their walk of faith!
I hope it's okay if I say this (of course it is - it's my blog! lol)...but haven't we done the same? Do we not lay down our own lives every day to see our loved one cared for properly? Have we not turned out sites from our own discomforts to ensure another's comfort? Yes, we have.
So do not give up, and don't lose heart. You are full of God's wonderful compassion just like Paul was. God will renew our inner man day by day as we continue to take care of His people. He will give us the strength to carry on this journey (He knows we cannot do it on our own!) So smile. He is renewing you today. Remember Isaiah 40:39 - as we wait on Him (for our strength) our strength is indeed renewed.
Renew can mean several things:
- to begin again or to take up again
- to make effective for a longer period of time
- to restore/re-fill
- to make again
- revive or re-establish
- to make as if it is new again
He is renewing our inner man while our outer man is on this troublesome journey called life!
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