Hard Pressed But Holding On

In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul pens two of the most amazing verses in the Bible; amazing because they combine bare-faced honesty with bold-hearted hope.

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed (vs. 8 – 9).

What’s it like to be hard pressed on every side? No matter where you look, there’s trouble. Physical sickness wracks your body. Emotional turmoil troubles your heart. Mental anguish tortures your mind. Financial deficits throttle your dreams. Your relationships are just a mess. Your kids are ungrateful and entitled or absent and irresponsible. Your extended family is distant and disconnected or they play the same maddening games that vexed your youth. Your spouse doesn’t get you and the feeling is mutual. Or you’re lonely for someone who left or died or you haven’t even met yet. Oddly, though . . .

You are not crushed. You may be in one of those rock-and-a-hard-place spots, but you believe in a God who makes a way out of no way. You may feel like you’re trapped in the trunk of an old car waiting its turn in one of those hydraulic crushers at a junk yard, but you’re still breathing, still believing that God will open a way into the spaciousness of his salvation. After all, he delivered Israel from Egypt, Daniel from the lions, his three friends from the flames and countless others from crushing ordeals. Even so . . .

You are perplexed. Why is this happening? Are you, like Job, caught in a contest between God and the Devil? Is this punishment for something you did? Are all these trials a divine test or a demonic temptation? Is this a life lesson you need to learn disguised as an episode of The Walking Dead? It isn’t that the answers aren’t coming easily – it’s that they aren’t coming at all. If you knew why, you’d at least have some peace to help you handle the pain. And then there’s this inexplicable truth . . .

You have not given in to despair. You actually passed what you thought was your breaking point months ago. But you haven’t broken yet. Looking back, you can see God’s hand in a kind word from a stranger or gracious gesture from a neighbor. When the sun came up this morning, things in your life were still a mess. But the sun did rise. And with it, hope.

You are persecuted. Have you ever seen one of those paintings of proper English gentlemen astraddle athletic horses galloping after a pack of baying beagles chasing a frightened fox? You’re the fox. You feel hunted. The hounds of Hell are in hot pursuit. Maybe that explains all the problems. It’s all part of Satan’s plan to discourage you. Well. It’s working. But . . .

You don’t feel abandoned. Even in the middle of the night when sleep is elusive and darkness presses, you sense a presence, benevolent and powerful. Even in the valley of shadows, God is here. He has to be. Shadows mean that somewhere nearby, there is a source of light.

You are struck down. You’re on the mat. You caught a hard right, right to the chin. It lifted you off your feet and landed you flat on your back. What the punch didn’t rattle, the fall did. The guy in the striped shirt is on his knees counting to ten. But as dazed as you feel, as completely incapable of getting up as you are . . .

You are not destroyed. There is still fight in your heart and strength in your spirit. You know it isn’t your strength – it is in you but not of you. Somehow, you are able to get up after every blow and keep going. And the only explanation is that you are doing it by the power of God.

I know and have known Christians who endured the most God-awful trials, yet managed not only to hang on to faith, but grow deeper in it. How? Two more verses from 2 Corinthians 4 offer an answer.

Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day, (vs. 16).

Paul says two things about renewal here – its location and its schedule. First, the location; it’s an inward renewal. Outward support is never as effective as inward strength. Think about the difference between a bone and a brace. When you need them, braces are invaluable. But they can never do what strong bones can. The strength we need for the trials we face is an internal strength. Jesus called it a spring of life welling up from within.

Second, the schedule; we are renewed day by day. God doesn’t jolt us with a week’s worth of renewal or strength. It’s like the manna God gave Israel in the wilderness. Every morning when they woke up, the manna was there. Hording resulted in rot. Every morning when we wake up, the power for that day will be there, too.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, (vs. 17).

Compared to the heft of glory that awaits you, your troubles are light as tissue.  Your struggles come with an expiration date. Paul says they are momentary. But your reward is eternal. There are no clocks in heaven. We won’t need daily renewal when get there because there won’t be anything to empty us. The temporary troubles will be forgotten. We might even laugh at what we once called a load. We’ll see the Father’s smile. We’ll hear the laughter of the Son. We’ll dance in the wind of the Spirit. Hang in there. Hold on. Have faith.