2 Corinthians 4:8-9 Devotion

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

There are seasons where I feel “afflicted in every way”, when my life is packed with watching my beautiful grandkids, writing materials for our ministry, and training instructors and there is very little time left to just relax and look out the window, to see the leaves turning colors, the late blooming azaleas or roses. And yet, I am at peace. The word “afflicted” means to be troubled, and references sufferings due to the pressure of circumstances, or the experience of people coming in opposition to you. But Paul reminds me in this statement that while we may experience affliction, we are not crushed. It doesn’t take us out of the game, we are not lost without a way to return. There is this protective barrier from which we live and function, this beautiful mystery of us being hidden in Christ as Colossians 3:3 says. There are days when I don’t understand why a situation or a relationship is turning out the way it is, and I am “perplexed”. I want to understand, but there is nothing offered in front of me for understanding. And there, my Lord meets me and gives me patience and peace, and reminds me that in time, understanding will come. He reminds me that He works all things together to transform me more into the image of His son. And I can choose to rest in that, and not despair for the outcome.

I have not experienced persecution, but as I read and pray about the attacks in Israel, killings of Christians in Nigeria, and young Christian girls kidnapped and forced into muslim marriages in Pakistan, my hope lies in truth that nothing here on earth can separate us from our God. He has not forsaken these men, women and children, and their eternal reality is still secure. They may be “struck down” but they are not destroyed.

We, who are called to be His saints, His light in the world, His ambassadors of reconciliation, we get to live out this truth for others to see. No matter what season we are in, we get to walk out of the truth that nothing in this life will destroy us. We are truly indestructible in Christ, with an eternal destination where joy, peace, love abound, where praising and singing to our King will fill our ears, and casting our crowns filled with the jewels of our life’s work to which He has called us, will be laid at His feet.