Peruse Bible teachings and church happenings
“Trust God Always; Trust People Whenever You Can”
Categories: Christian character, Faith / Trust, marriage & family, Midweek FR articles
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.” (2 Cr. 4:16-18)
If there was ever a time in his life when Paul was ready to lose heart, it must have been when he was writing Second Corinthians. In the first chapter, we read of the interpersonal struggles he’d had in recent months. He dealt with rejection, with disappointment, with slander, and with persecution. How could he experience such things and yet continue with affirmations like the one quoted above? The answer is simple and is found in chapter one, verse nine: We “rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.”
Personally, I confess that I’ve been in a season of struggling with these same things: With seeing and experiencing the faults of others, and yet trying not to “lose heart” or give up faith in other people. Surely I’m not the only one who has prayed about the question: “God, how can I see things and people as they really are and yet not become jaded? How can I continue to believe that your ways work and that people can be good when I’m facing so much disappointment and discouragement?”
The challenge is to let life experience make us wiser but to never let it make us quit. It is to continue encouraging others, speaking the truth of the word, and living godly and upright in this present age. It is to rely on “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Cr. 1:3). Trust God always; trust people sometimes.
“So we do not lose heart.”
- Dan Lankford, minister
