“You can’t read a book by it’s cover”
“Still waters run deep”
“He’s a gentle giant”
Those quotes are reminders that what we see is not always an accurate indicator of the person within.
So many times my first impressions of a person, or upcoming event, were completely inaccurate, because my impression originated in what I could see.
The Bible reminds us t0 “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
As this school year is coming to an end, as our eyes tend to look at the struggles in front of our faces (and those in this school year). For students it might be the perceived impossibility of exams, for parents it might be what is viewed as a tough school year with our child (in or out of school), for school staff it might be a sense that we did not do enough to assist the students in our realm of responsibility.
Are we focusing only on what we can see?
Are we seeing the difficulties of our present situation magnified by end of school year fatigue? Are we looking at this year as loss? Failure?
What we can see and imagine as the ‘fall out’ from this school year is such a small view of what has actually been accomplished, being accomplished.
At this time of the school year I am often tired, discouraged, beaten up and guilty for my failings. It is usually about now that I see out an intense focus on 2 Corinthians 4:
“Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.
If our Message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.
Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.
If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!
We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!
So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.”
May our eyes be focused, not on what we see and is temporary, but on what is unseen, and eternal.
itsawonderfilledlife 