“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 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.”

As we wrap up this week talking about healing, I love that we are ending with this passage. Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, shares with them the trials and tribulations he and his ministry partners have endured. Starting in verse 8, he writes, “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who live are constantly being handed over to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. So, death works in us, but life in you.”

Do you hear the anguish and the toil that Paul and his companions suffer regularly for the Gospel? Paul understands that the Gospel is more important than even his life and so he pushes through even the harshest struggles. Knowing that our Savior suffered much for our salvation, Paul counts his suffering in light of the truth of the Gospel- that the same God who carries us into blessing also carries us through suffering.  

David E. Garland writes in The New American Commentary, “Paul’s acknowledgment that he always is given over to death gets at the core of the confusion and complaints about his apostolic ministry. How does the unsurpassed glory of the ministry of the Spirit harmonize with unrelenting death?… Paul cannot cover up his tribulations and does not wish to do so. Instead, he exults in them and explains why the divine glory must be contained in the earthen vessel of his frail, pummeled body… This explanation gets at the heart of the gospel. The glory of the ministry must be seen in terms of both cross and resurrection.”

I cannot help but notice that Paul says they are “afflicted in every way”. This affliction for the sake of the Gospel could include physical affliction, spiritual affliction, mental affliction, or emotional affliction. It may have included attacks from the enemy on their health, their emotions, and their well-being. It is not so far of a stretch to believe that Paul and his companions walked in constant awareness of the very real battle they fought in the name of the Lord, blocking and parrying blows from the enemy on every front.  

And what is Paul’s response? He turns his eyes upward to heaven, knowing that this mortal body is wasting away. No matter what happens here on earth, whether we suffer much or live in luxury, our mortal bodies will fail. Even with the best care, the most advanced anti-aging, and the best diet out there, eventually all bodies give out. And as we age, as our outer person wastes away, we are faced with the very real reality that someday, we will leave this world.  

But there is hope for the believer. Because even while the outer person is wasting away, even in light of “affliction in every way” we can be being built up in our inner person- in the spirit, the mind, the emotions. The person we become as Christ works in us is far more valuable than the outer flesh ever could be. And for the believer, it is that inner person that inherits eternity- radiant and renewed, gifted a new, eternal body that will never waste away!

For me, this passage has been of GREAT encouragement. Fighting a cancer I will never be cured of (short of Jesus working a miracle in my body) and a variety of other maladies in my body as a result of the cancer has often left me feeling broken and frustrated. The outer person is distinctively wasting away. Add to that the general effects of aging and if I’m not careful I can find myself discouraged and feeling defeated.  

But like Paul, I have learned that there is more to this than meets the eye. In fact, I often tell people that the sickness in my body has been one of the biggest blessings to my faith. Why? Does that even make any sense? It’s because the more the outer person has “wasted away” the more God has strengthened my inner person. And the more my body struggles, the more I need the supernatural strength of my Savior to walk out the life He has called me to.  

And you know what? He supplies it- EVERY SINGLE TIME! I have seriously lost count the times that I have not had the strength in my person to keep going, but He met me in that moment and filled me with HIS strength to do HIS will. It’s as if He lifts my head and whispers, “Baby girl, I’ve got you” and then carries me through. It’s a beautiful thing and I can’t help but tear up as I write this. He has been so faithful and so good!

Sometimes I think we can get so shortsighted when it comes to healing. We long for the physical healing that heals for the moment, often wishing away the spiritual healing that can only come through suffering with Christ. We want ease for today, forgetting that every person Jesus ever heals will eventually die one day. Physical healing is always temporary. Our bodies will die. Our outer person will fade away.  

But what if we turned our hearts and minds to the inner healing that will never fade away? What if we leaned into the physical- whether healed or afflicted- as a means to be healed inwardly by the God who loves us more than we can even comprehend? What if we saw spiritual healing as far more valuable and eternal than physical healing?  

I am not saying that God doesn’t heal the physical. I have experienced supernatural healing in certain ways myself. But physical healing is always meant to usher in spiritual healing in some way. God is in the business of building us up to be conformed into the image of His Son and sometimes physical healing accomplishes something to that end. Other times, the lack of healing is the thing that will most effectively work out His sanctification in our lives. I know this has been the truth for me in so many ways.  

As we fix our eyes on what is unseen (heaven), we can move forward in confidence knowing that whether by healing and deliverance, or by patience and endurance, our loving Father is strengthening us in ways that only He can. He is perfecting us, making us holy, and drawing us to Himself. And that, friends, is a much better outcome than just physical healing that will one day pass away.

Jesus,

I bring my burdens to You- physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. I trust that You love the whole person, and You see every way that I need healing from You, even the ways I don’t fully see. You know what things in my physical body will draw me closer to You. You know what healing I need. So, instead of coming to You with my agenda, demanding You move in the specific way I want You to, I surrender. I give it all to You and I say, let Your will be done in me. I will fix my eyes on You and trust that when you heal and when you don’t, each is Your love working out my life with my best interests in mind. I trust You, Lord.

Amen