NOTE: We had a power outage towards the beginning of Andy Howard’s sermon this particular Sunday. Please note around the 2:45 minute mark that it jumps to where the power came back on. We apologize for the inconvenience.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 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” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Our beloved Holly Baker used to quote this passage of Scripture to everyone she met. It is difficult to fix our eyes on the unseen when what is seen is constantly being bombarded at us. We lose heart. We wonder where God is. We wonder if we can trust Him. Grief and suffering can feel like an overwhelming flood.
In Psalm 11, King David reminds us to take refuge in the Lord. He reminds us that the Lord is present, sovereign, and will deal justly with the wicked. He reminds us that we are not finished yet and we will see His (God’s) face.
The Apostle Paul writes “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). I don’t know about you, but I long for the day when everything makes sense the moment I look in Jesus’s face. Until that day, we persevere and press on, trusting in our faithful God, and declaring “It is well with my soul.”