So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV

There are times when this disease has totally overwhelmed me to the point where I’ve lost all perspective.  I have become consumed only with what I can see in front of me, with all its pain and difficulties.  These verses speak of the unseen eternal promises we have through Jesus.  They may be unseen but they are no less true or real.

Right now, my body can’t do what I think it should. It’s so frustrating! My outer self feels frail and weak and I can do very little to speed up my recovery.   However, these verses tell me that my inner self is being renewed day by day.  Whatever we’re going through may not feel light or momentary, but it is compared to what lies ahead. An eternity with Jesus.

It is these unseen eternal things that are our destiny as Christians.  What we experience now, however difficult or painful, is only temporary.  We may struggle in all sorts of ways with what we see before us; this is because this world is not our home.  Our ultimate home is in heaven with Jesus, a place free from pain and disease, free from condemnation and judgement, free from loneliness and rejection. This is the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

Our future hope maybe unseen but as Christians, eternity with Jesus starts now!  We get to rest in his presence, we get to know what it is to be a child of God, what it is to be loved by the Father and what it means to know his forgiveness.  

This heavenly perspective rather than being a morbid contemplation of what happens when we die, should actually give us joy, peace and hope in the here and now. Whatever we’re going through today, this is the future that awaits us.