A Rose is Still a Rose Cont'd

Picking up where I left off with my study of 2 Cor 4:10-18...

v.10-12 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that
the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive
are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may
be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life
is at work in you.

To me this says, "look you can't have life without death." Think about folks who have nearly died, they appreciate life more. Like in the wake of 9/11 when Americans valued more than just material goods. Or it's like spring's awakening after the death of winter. We can't appreciate the new life spring brings unless we've seen the death of winter. For me, being a native Californian, I didn't know what spring was. Very few trees/plants go dormant during a California winter. The grass doesn't turn brown. So until I moved here, I had no appreciation for spring because I'd never seen the death of winter.

v. 15- 16 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

I often ask myself and God, "Why?" Why do I struggle? Why is everything so hard right now?Why am I walking along this rocky road? What is the point. And then something or someone reminds me it's so that I can see, feel, hear and taste His grace. So my faith can grow. So God can receive glory. Things that come easy to us aren't appreciated the same way we appreciate things for which we've worked or even struggled. It's like the statement, "We go through what we go through so we can help others get through what we went through." And then the instruction, "Don't give up!" Don't get discouraged. Don't be afraid. Makes me think of the children's book, "The Little Engine that Could." "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can." And that gets us to the outward appearance versus the inward state. Some days I know my outward appearance accurately depicts what I'm feeling inside be it happiness or despair. Other days, I do my best to make my outward appearance look like all is well while in the inside I'm struggling. Kind of like that old song, "Tears of a Clown." But here it says we are wasting away outwardly and inwardly being renewed. That's a direct reflection of how this world will pass away but our spirits will live on. How everything we buy will meet its demise but time spent with loved ones, time spent with God will last forever.

v.17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory
that far outweighs them all.

I dont' know about you but my troubles don't often feel light nor momentary. Hence the name troubles. They never seem manageable while we're trudging through them. Looking back on the suffering though, and we see how brief it really was. In the grand scheme of things even a year of trouble is short. The "trouble" is necessary for the "glory." No guts, no glory. No pain, no gain. No pregnancy/adoption process, no baby. But the thing is the glory always outweighs the trouble. So, I'm sitting here thinking how "heavy" my troubles are right now. The glory revealed at the end of all this is going to be HUGE!

v.18 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.

If you've ever owned your own business, lost weight, or even just purchased something on layaway, you're familiar with goals. You know what it is to focus on something you can't see. Imagine the unimaginable. That's all this is saying. But it specifically calls us to focus not on material goals, manmade ideals or worldly gain. It calls us to focus on future glory, on eternal life, on heaven if you will. These days, with all the talk about Obama being the antichrist and this being the end times, it is so easy to get wrapped up in the world. Sometimes I catch myself freaking out that I haven't done all I wanted to do, or I'll find myself just plain scared. That's when I have to remind myself to focus on the unseen glory of heaven. Like the song says, "I can only imagine..."

So when I started this post 11 days ago, I titled it "A rose is still a rose." For those of you who know me personally, you catch the play on words. But when I first read this passage, this is the phrase that popped into my head. You see no matter what you do to a rose, no matter how harsh the winter, how dry the summer, or how glorious the spring, a rose is still a rose.