But for A Moment

"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;" 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

In Mark 5, Luke 8 and Matthew 9, there is an account of a woman who had a chronic illness, an issue of blood, for twelve years.  She had seen every doctor, and she had spent all the money she had to get help with this illness and instead of getting better, her condition worsened.  I can relate; and I'm sure many of you can as well.  We live with a chronic illness every single day.  We wake up each morning and wonder if this is going to be a good day, or if our condition will flare up and our day will be one filled with pain.  Pain that is often debilitating.

I often read this account and try to imagine the joy this woman experienced at the moment she touched the hem of our Saviour's garment.  She reached out in faith, and 'straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.' (Mark 5:29) This woman found healing.

Then there is the Apostle Paul, who earnestly poured out his heart to God in prayer to be healed from the thorn in the flesh, and God told him that rather than being healed from his infirmity, the Power of Christ would rest upon him. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Paul woke up every morning with his chronic illness, but was reassured by God Himself that the Power of Christ would be upon him!

Can you imagine?

And it was the Apostle Paul who penned 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 under the power of the Holy Spirit that reminds us that our chronic illness that we wake up with every single morning, is merely a 'light affliction, which is but for a moment.'

Sometimes it doesn't feel that way, does it?

I've been dealing with my chronic illness for 34 years now.  Some days are manageable, and some days are hard to bear, but in the context of eternity, this pain truly is 'but for a moment.' Our afflictions in the here and now, are 'light' and are 'short-lived' compared to what eternity holds for us one day.  

Albert Barnes once said, 'Our trials are not meaningless. The afflictions actively prepare, build, and secure spiritual maturity and heavenly reward for the believer.  While earthly pain is fleeting and weightless, the glory of heaven is substantial, rich and eternal."

The Apostle Paul didn't describe his affliction 'light' because it didn't hurt.  No, he described his affliction as 'light' because of what he compared it with: an eternal reward.

We can look past our fleeting pain today...

    when we focus on our eternal healing in heaven...

        But that's just me!