2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “That is why we never give up. Though
our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present
troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory
that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the
troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.
For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will
last forever.”
We live in two realms; the physical and the spiritual. Because of this dichotomy, we often struggle
with our faith. Our battle is overcoming
fear, anxiety, worry, and doubt. In the
physical realm we are bombarded by our five senses. We see, hear, taste, touch, and smell things
every day and in every situation. We
experience emotions and feelings in these situations as well.
We must remember that we cannot focus on the wrapper (what
we can see) but on the eternal (what is underneath/hidden). 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV) “So we 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.” The Word
points out that the physical realm is temporary but the spiritual realm is
eternal.
What does this mean for us?
We will use the challenge of physical illness to illustrate how we are
to walk in both realms.
1.We cannot
ignore the things we are facing in the physical.
We all have faced struggles in the
physical. Financial, emotional, or
physical struggles often feel overwhelming and insurmountable. When physical
illness, for example, attacks our body, it is very real and must be dealt with.
These things exist and cannot be ignored, but we don’t have to give them first
place in our thinking.
I must
state here that living by faith doesn't mean we don’t go to the doctor. God often chooses to
use doctors to bring about healing for his children. What we do need to remember is that our faith is not in the doctor, but in the
One who gave the doctor the ability to minister healing!!!
2. We focus
on the things unseen.
Hebrews
11:1 tells us that “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us
assurance about things we cannot see.”
So faith is the substance of things you hope for, the assurance,
the very proof of what you cannot see that’s in the realm of heaven.
With your faith you replace the things that are seen,
sickness and debt, with divine heal and divine wealth, which are not seen. The way you can do that is you must make sure
that you are not looking at the things that are seen, giving them first
place. Keep God’s Word flooding your
heart and your thoughts, and keep it before your eyes constantly. Most people don’t do this because they
haven’t put their flesh under and they want to talk about how bad the problem
is. The flesh likes to have pity
parties. So you will have to make the
decision that you are going to put the Word first place and believe that the
Word of God is changing everything. ~ Janie
Baer (http://godswordalive.com/faith-requires-you-dont-focus-on-your-circumstances)
3. We keep
God’s promises in front of us at all times.
2 Peter
1:4 “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and
precious promises. These are
the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by
human desires.”
We need to stand on the Word in
every situation we face. God has given
us 66 books packed full of promises, examples, and illustrations of his mighty
power. In the case of illness, we must
dig into the Word and find the promises about divine healing (Psalm
107:20; Psalm 30:2; Isaiah 53:4-5; Psalm
103:2-4; Psalm 41:2-3; Matthew 8:5-17; Mark 5:34; Luke 8:43-48, 49-56; 1 Peter
2:24). We must claim each promise as our own.
Romans 8:11 (NIV) “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the
dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life
to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” We see in Romans 8:11 that the same power that
raised Jesus from the dead is active to heal our bodies.
4.We remind
our spirit that God doesn't change and that he always keeps his promises.
Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, so he does
not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken
and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”
Malachi
3:6a “I am the Lord, and I do not change.”
And if God doesn't change, then that means His promises
don’t change, either. He promised to be with you in the past — and He still is.
He promised to guide you in the past — and He still will. Know His promises...
study His promises... believe His promises... and trust His promises. In the
Bible “he has given us his very great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4). ~
Billy Graham (Don’t let your faith be
overcome by your circumstances, Gaston Gazette, Published: Friday, October
12, 2012)
5. We thank
God that we don’t have to have it all together.
God’s grace is sufficient and his power is
made perfect in our weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “Each time he said,
‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad
to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s
why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships,
persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I
am strong.”
All Scripture is NLT unless otherwise stated.
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