The Unseen

     I have been privileged to know and love older women of faith, in the churches I have attended and through a Bible study I facilitated for several years. Some of them are in heaven with Jesus and two of my closest friends in the Lord are in the ebbing years of life.

     The following verses are my favorites and I know I have shared them in the past. I have read them at funerals and I use them to remind myself that my body, too, will eventually tire and wear down. But as we age, as we grow weary, as we learn to live with aches and pains, with disease and deteriorating eyesight and hearing, something beautiful is moving in our spirits.

     I have seen this miraculous power coming straight from heaven, in the older generation of believers. A knowledge of what is to come, an increasing anticipation of heaven, an excitement beyond measure at the thought of seeing Jesus face-to-face keeps them filled with joy. How beautiful are the ways of the Lord. Focus on him today.

Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Jesus,

We fix our eyes on you. You renew us day by day. The eternity that awaits us will far exceed any momentary troubles on earth. Give comfort and peace to those in the midst of suffering. Increase their joy in you in anticipation of the life everlasting.

Amen