"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor 4:17-18) This portion of the scripture bears a great hope and comfort for every Christian. I received a lot of comments and messages following our discussion yesterday on "God of all comfort"; and apparently not all persons believe that suffering is a part of Christianity or that God sometimes uses unpleasant circumstances to work out His good will. But the truth is still the truth whether we believe it or not. The Bible says "All things worketh together for good to them who love God". When it says "all" things I am inclined to believe that means both good and bad. You see, God has a purpose for our lives and that purpose is not to make us "happy" or "bless" us; but to work out for us a far exceeding and eternal weight of glory. And if the example of Jesus is anything to go by, then before every glory there must come a cross. But the good news is the Bible says the cross or the suffering is far little in comparison with the glory we are to receive afterward. But this statement comes with a catch - the faith factor .
The problem with us at times as Christians is we read the Bible in parts. We just take the passage that appeals to our sentiment and leave the rest of it. Sometimes we even take the first sentece in a verse and call it "a" or "b" and leave the rest. But no part of the scripture exists in isolation. To fully understand any verse we must read the verses sorrounding it also. The Bible says our afflition is light and temporal and worketh a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory "while" we look not at the things which are seen! For this affliction to work out the desired purpose, we must fix our eyes on the invisible! We must, through the eyes of faith, see and believe in the exceeding glory. We must not allow the things we see (the suffering) to cloud our vision and desire for the things which are not seen (the glory). We can only get as far as our eyes of faith can see. That is the faith factor!