Our Perspective in Suffering

by Renee Gowler

Part 3 of a 3-part series on the hope of Christ. See Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

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It’s the week before final exams and 15 days until Christmas.

Feeling stressed? Me, too.

Can I share something encouraging with you? Read 2 Corinthians 4:18 -

“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.”

There’s a lot going on in this familiar passage. We see the contrast between the seen and unseen, and between the eternal and temporary. There’s irony, too, as we’re told to fix our eyes on what we can’t see (thanks for that, Paul).

Many things could be said about this single verse, but as we come to the end of this 3-part series on suffering, and as we are all probably feeling a little frazzled, there’s one thing I want you to notice: You can choose your perspective.

Read that Corinthians verse again, my friend. See the choice implied there?

We can actively decide where we will hold our gaze, and we can pick our focus. Our two choices are the visible, temporary things or eternal and unseen things.

Now, I think it’s clear what the temporary, “see-able” things are in life. For Paul, it was the floggings, the slander from false accusers, and the shipwrecks (plural!). For us, maybe it’s the stress of seminary, the cancer diagnosis, the gossiping friend, or in my case, the potty-training toddler.

Paul tells us NOT to fix our gaze on these things, so what are we looking at instead? What are the
eternal, unseen things?

Ready for the “Sunday school answer”?
Jesus.

He is the eternal and unseen One, and we can choose to fix our eyes on Him. Christ. The image of the invisible God, the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His being.

He is our sovereign creator, our great high priest, our spotless lamb who knew no sin, the One who was wounded so we could be healed. He is everything that was promised. Eve’s offspring who
crushed the snake, Abraham’s seed with blessing for the nations, David’s son with an eternal throne, the Suffering Servant, who knows what pain feels like.

And by God’s grace, we can look upwards at Him and the incredible promises in His Word. His resurrection power inside of us enables us to see Him, and He will open the eyes of our hearts to behold Himself.

But first…we must choose our perspective.
So, make your choice.
Because you can.

You HAVE an option here, my friend. You may not have control over anything else that happens to you today.
But you CAN choose your perspective.
Pick Jesus.