Fixing our eyes on what we cannot see

I am thankful that God doesn't leave us the way we are.  He is ever-changing us through the circumstances we face in our lives.  Even the really tough times when we feel like  we aren't making any headway.  As long as we are willing to yield to His transforming grace, He is ever faithful to renew us daily and continue to mold us into who He wants us to be.

Winter is great picture of those times in our lives when our circumstances leave us feeling cold, barren and even dormant.  At first glance, the trees in my yard, right now, look dead.  There are no leaves.  Many of the branches are being broken off by the cold winds that gust their way through them.  But the reality is, those trees are being renewed on the inside.  Preparing for the next phase coming in the spring, when new life will burst forth from each of those bare branches.  In just a few more months those trees will be flourishing with beautiful, green leaves.  It is not unlike the circumstances of our lives.  We have tough times when cold, strong winds blow.  During those times it's easy to focus on the difficulty and pain.  But, inside our hearts, God is molding us, reshaping us to look more and more like Jesus.  Eventually we will reap incredible blessing from the fruit that will be as evident in our lives as the leaves on the trees.  In the BIG picture of life, these trials are just bumps in the road on our journey.  The lasting changes that God is achieving in us through the difficulties we face are worth so much more than an easy, trouble-free, comfortable journey.  Let's take heart and fix our eyes on what is temporarily UNseen.  Even though it may be cold and barren where we are right now.....spring is just around the corner!

"Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that FAR outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." ~ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18