For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory: while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. –2 Corinthians 4:17-18
There’s no doubt about it: God tests us mighty hard sometimes. Hard enough to make us wonder what it’s all about. Maybe even hard enough to make us question our faith, and tempt us to abandon it.
We do prayer requests on this blog, so we know that many of us struggle under burdens very hard to carry. And that’s putting it mildly.
But what St. Paul is saying here is not that these burdens are light, not that they don’t matter, not that our pain isn’t real. This is a man who, during his ministry, was stoned and left for dead, beaten several times, shipwrecked, and on top of all that, had to deal with churches whose congregations sometimes rebelled against him and rejected him.
So when he calls it “light affliction,” no small share of which he had himself, he means “light” by comparison with “an eternal weight of glory.” This is the knowledge that sustained him in his own afflictions. It would be good for us if we had that knowledge, too–and believe me, I’m not saying that I do.
Why does God test us so hard?
I think of how a Japanese sword is made. The swordsmith takes chips of iron and heats it and refines it into steel, and then, as it begins to acquire the shape of a blade, he heats it again and again, and bends it and folds it and hammers it, over and over again: heat red-hot, bend and fold, and hammer. If the metal had feelings, it would surely feel that! But the end result is a strong and supple sword with a razor-sharp edge, a prize sword that will last for hundreds of years.
Bend and fold, hammer. Bend and fold, hammer. I think this must be what God does to us. It hurts, it tempts us to despair: because, unlike Him, we can’t see the end product. It is one of those things that Paul called “the things which are not seen,” and which are… eternal.
We can only endure this by faith: “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). For we are headed for eternal life, and glory.
A thing hard to remember, and hard to believe; but we have to remember it, and we must believe it. Probably the hardest lesson in all of Christianity.
And therefore central to our faith.
Yes, indeed, it is so true. The testing can be very painful, and the more so as we mature. If we were tested this severely as new believers, we could not endure. We thank our Lord that He knows exactly where and when to apply the pressure. In His prayer taught to His followers, one line is “lead us not into hard testing, but deliver us from evil…” and I pray that often as I feel the pressure building almost greater than I can bear. I know, too, that we are promised not to be given more than we can bear, even though it feels that way. Like a clay pot being shaped, we sometimes have to be broken and reshaped. It will be good coming from the Potter’s Hands.
There are tests that I have seen that I fear more than I dare to say.
Yes, I fully understand. I constantly pray for strength, wisdom and all spiritual understanding, according to Colossians 1:9-12.
When God tests us. I thought about that when I wrote this. And I found out its more true now, then when I wrote this years ago, for I have had a lot more of those testings over the years.
THE SCULPTOR
Marble from a mountaintop one day was hauled away.
It came before a sculptor who with chisel carved that day.
The form was very rough; you could not see what it would be.
But from the cold, hard stone a figure soon you’d see.
Emerging from that rock, painfully so slow,
A foot and leg and other limbs soon began to grow.
Grotesquely formed at first, hammered blow by blow,
Upon that formless hunk of rock the sculptor’s hand moved slow.
The form was growing daily; shortly it would show
The patience and the skill so lovingly bestowed.
His work was now completed, unveiled for all to see
The beauty from the rock, now standing in front of me.
This work he hoped would last much longer than the sea.
But in his mind he knew that that could never be.
Whatever man can make won’t last eternally.
Marble, steel, or diamonds, dust again they’ll be.
Another kind of sculptor, whose skills surpassed them all,
Was working out some details on a small celestial ball.
He took much hope and care and placed it on the ground,
And lovingly attended each trait that did abound.
But one poor, wretched soul caught His watchful eye.
He’d need to send some rain from His lightning-studded sky.
And so a rough, cold wind was sent across his path.
He’d need to languish in a prison, but that would soon be past.
His love was not full in bloom, a dry spell must soon be.
And from the western sky came heat and humidity.
It seemed to wilt his entire soul, but compassion it did bring.
So because of Thee, all-knowing One, he learned to cry and sing.
Dashed hopes and plans did soon arrive; they came in day by day.
But soon, because of that, he learned to laugh and pray.
Wisdom, grace, and patience must now begin to grow.
And so into his stressful life children then did flow.
Trials, hurts, and problems were sprinkled here and there.
He needed faith and trust…he really had his share.
Mercy, peace, and tenderness you cannot live without.
Hence He sent a lot of grief so those in time would sprout.
Hope and loving kindness were something he would need.
Along came pain and agony, to force him to his knees.
Hardship, pain, and trials were used to change his ways.
The life that now was formed would last eternal days.
The sculptor’s work was thus all done; his life was now replete.
Nothing I can add to that!