Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 Renewal of the Church

2 Corinthians 4: 7-15
 
V 8-9: We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 

2 Corinthians Chapter 4 remains one of the most touching and thought provoking passages in the Bible.  Paul describes the pain of being a follower and an apostle of Christ. He was persecuted not just physically but also suffered mental stress and pain as he carried out his work of spreading the gospel; hence he says “hard pressed on every side”. The lives of the apostles were not easy and one may wonder why they went through all this.  The answer lies in the fact that, unlike many of us, they were able to have an eternal perspective, in spite of all the circumstances they faced in this world.
Today as Christians living in a world where we feel that there is no end to suffering and pain, we often fail to have an eternal perspective as to what the end goal is.  As we complain that life may not have treated us fairly, perhaps  sitting down and writing on a piece of paper the many instances  when the Lord showered His mercy and lifted us up, may open our eyes to see the pattern of grace and mercy we have received.  Perhaps then we can confess that our eyes had not seen, nor our ears had heard, not our minds had ever imagined what God has been doing in our lives all these years.     


PRAYER
Lord, help us not to focus on what is seen but on what is unseen, which is eternal and everlasting. Renew our faith so that we are able to see the world through an eternal perspective and not to be crushed by what we see around us.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
 “Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you.”
Tim Keller
Melvin John, St John’s MTC, New York
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

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