Recently I was moving several boxes of books from our basement to the garage. As I made repeated trips up and down the stairs, it seemed as if each load became heavier and heavier. At one point, while I was resting between loads to catch my breath, it occurred to me that life is a lot like that. The burdens of life can be heavy at times, can’t they? This is especially true for those who do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Perhaps that is why Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
Yet, even Christians face heavy burdens at times. The English phrase “heavy laden” in this verse is one Greek word, phortidzo. It is where we get our English word “fortitude,” which refers to the ability to bear pain or adversity. Do you ever feel like you are bearing a heavy burden? How do we cope when the load seems unbearable? When you strip away all of the advice from self-help gurus, Christian living books, motivational speakers, and discipleship training programs, the successful spiritual life comes down to one important paradox: the ability to see the invisible. Whether or not we can see with our eyes closed will determine the degree of confidence, joy, and peace we find in our individual lives.
Paul had this to say about the difficulties of life. 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. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) Notice that Paul uses two words in this passage that seem contrary to human experience.
First, he says that the trials and tribulations of life are “light.” Second, he says they are “for a moment.” Now I don’t know about you, but when I’m going through a difficult trial it seldom seems light, and it rarely seems momentary. Trials often seem heavy, with no end in sight. So, what does Paul mean? Paul is looking at life from an eternal perspective. To him, everything we go through on earth, no matter how difficult or weighty it may seem, is only a small part of a much bigger picture. Our life on earth is only a tiny speck on the timeline of eternity. Jesus taught the same concept in His Sermon on the Mount when He challenged His disciples to “store up treasures in heaven.” In other words, we are to live today in light of eternity.
The pagan, humanistic approach to life is to live for the moment. Yet, the spiritually mature approach to life is to recognize that there is always a much greater purpose at hand than what we can see with the naked eye. The true mark of spiritual maturity is the capacity to see the invisible. Spiritual wisdom brings with it the uncanny ability to understand what is going on in your life from God’s perspective. You may not have all the answers. You may not always know why. But deep in your heart, you are confident that “all things work together for good to those who love God.”
The next time you find yourself faced with a difficult situation, try closing your eyes for a moment and focusing on the invisible. It is definitely there; you just have to look for it. And once you see it, all of the other troubles of life get dimmer and dimmer and dimmer.
