Christians are going in two directions at once – wasting away outwardly, but gaining every day inwardly. Take heart! Christ is renewing you every day by his grace.
I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I am going in two directions at once.
Now, don’t be thinking my life is split-screened or that I’m undecided about things. No, when I say that I am going in two directions at once, I mean something very biblical. It’s a well-known principle, and I’m sure you know it, because as time passes and followers of Jesus grow older – and that’s me – we are moving in two directions at the same time. Second Corinthians 4:16 says, “We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” And then it adds the best of all reasons why we should not lose heart, because the next verse says, “For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.”
Okay, so, do you see the two directions in this verse? On one hand, our physical abilities and strength diminish with the passing years. You can feel it whether you are thirty years old or eighty. Outwardly, we are all wasting away, and we should deal with that fact; live with it, sit on it, and learn to embrace it. I do this with my body all the time, and I think it’s why I’m not too surprised when my scoliosis gets worse, or when I lose the ability to pronate my hand – that’s something that’s happened only recently; the muscles in my arm are just wasting away. So, yes, outwardly, I’m losing.
But inwardly I am gaining, gaining every day. For if we are walking with Christ and experiencing the renewal of his Spirit, our spiritual abilities and strength actually increase every day: our hope grows brighter; our spiritual sensitivities to sin grow sharper; we believe more; we love Jesus more; we exercise greater faith in trials; we understand and accept things from God’s point of view; we agree with his sovereign purposes; our prayer life becomes more vibrant. This is what 2 Corinthians 4 means when it says that we are renewed day by day by his grace. Yes, it is a day-by-day thing. You and I should be slightly different, a little more obedient, more affectionate toward Jesus, more yielded to his purposes than we were the day before. As I often say, I want to be a different Joni than the Joni I was yesterday. And this process of renewal goes on and on until our physical life gives out. But in that instant, our new life in heaven begins.
Therefore, as the Bible says, we do not – we should not ever – lose heart. Life is linear. We go this way and that on a continuum. We outwardly waste away at the same time we are inwardly renewed – two directions at once. And all of it is in God’s perfect order, his highest plan for our good and his glory. And so, if you are feeling aches and pains, no matter what your age; if what you see in the mirror isn’t as winsome as it once was; if you feel like your body is falling apart, the Bible says don’t lose heart. Life is wired that way and outwardly, you will fade, but inwardly, the flame in your spirit will glow brighter and hotter until God says, “It’s time, dear child. Come on home, now.”
So, comfort yourself with these words today, and feel free to share this on your social media networks, because people are losing heart; Christians are losing heart. But 2 Corinthians 4 bolsters our hearts, reminding us that in our losing, we gain so much more. And that is a lot of hope in your hardship today.
© Joni and Friends