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Pie In The Sky

           So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. (II Corinthians 4:12-15)

           I almost passed this by as being too “pie in the sky, by and by” or too impractical. After all, it’s basically a statement that someday, all the pain and suffering is for God’s glory, and we’ll thank Him for it. Quite frankly, I’m not in the mood. I want something to help me get through today and solve problems now.

          The problem is that some problems can’t be solved now, and the problem is that getting through today tends to just end up with needing to get through tomorrow, and then the next day. It’s the same thing day after day and either hoping for different results (AKA: Insanity) or giving up on any insane hope for different results (AKA: Depression and Frustration.)

          There may be other ways to face this, but today’s passage offers one solution. It involves putting “today” into a framework that provides enough time for hoped for changes to take place. Today may be miserable. Tomorrow may be miserable, but eventually, things will be better. And, yes, if not before, then “by and by.” But what’s more, at that point, the we will also have the opportunity to learn how this bit of pain, or that bit of tedium fits into a larger picture, touching the lives of others and giving them meaning that we cannot now see. It is only as we take this longer view that hope makes sense.

 

 

 

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