Most of us are heavily burdened by the daily problems that we face. It seems that there is never a shortage of problems to smother us in this fallen world. Since it is a given that we will struggle, how do we deal with it?
Albert Einstein said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”. Okay, I’ve resolved myself to look for the opportunities hidden within my great difficulties this morning, but admittedly I’m not seeing them.
Confucius said, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but rising every time we fall”.
Hmmm . . . I don’t feel much like rising after getting the hell beaten out of me by this mean old world, and I darn sure don’t see the “glory” in it.
Yesterday I was once again diagnosed with a malignant skin cancer and now must undergo surgery to remove it. (Please no letters; I’ve lived through similar diagnoses many times. It appears as though we caught it early and it doesn’t look as though it is life threatening; just a big pain.)
As I ponder the difficult struggles that I see in my life, especially those serious struggles, the “opportunity” of which Einstein spoke, and the line of thinking of Confucius in his “rise” from the fall ring hollow.
The comments of Einstein and Confucius notwithstanding and no offense to their secular encouragement, I prefer to search the Bible and look to Jesus Christ for His encouragement and comfort with all of my struggles this morning. Not surprisingly I found a straightforward answer. We must first be solid in our relationship with Jesus Christ and then look beyond the visible into the realm of the invisible to find it sometimes, but that’s okay too.
2 Corinthians 16 . . .
Therefore we do not lose heart.
Even though our outward man is
perishing, yet the inward man is
being renewed day by day.
For our light affliction which is
but for a moment, is working for us
a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory,
while we do not look at the
things which are seen, but at the
things which are not seen. For the
things which are seen are temporary,
but the things which are not
seen are eternal.
For we know that if our earthly
house, this tent, is destroyed, we
have a building from God, a house
not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.