"Fainting Not"
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. -2 Corinthians 4:16
What we need, what I need, is to come to the place Paul came to. I want to reach the place where “though our outward man perish,” I “faint not”. I want to come to the place where, even though I am attacked from without and from within by a fallen nature and a fallen world, “I do not lose heart,” regardles of what is going on around me or inside of me.
I believe there are three truths we can look at that will help us to not lose heart!
1. We Are Given Fresh Strength for Every Day Paul reminds us that, while the “outward man” is “perishing,” “the inward man is renewed day by day.” The natural man, which includes the body and the mind, is dying every day. Every day, the mind and the body are assaulted by the effects of sin and sinners. As a result of the constant attacks on the “outward man,” it is “perishing”.
Every day, the “inner man” is given new strength to face the trials of that day. Jesus said it this way:
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. -Lamentations 3:21–26
Your bucket leaks! What you brought up from the well yesterday will not be sufficient for the trials you will be called on to face today! No spiritual fuel was designed to run your car for ten years. No single spiritual meal will power your life for months at a time. No spiritual inoculation will cure the ailments of the new day.
This means you need to feed on the Word of God every day. You need to pray to the Father every day. You need the fellowship of the saints every day. You need a fresh supply every day!
2. Nothing we Face in This Life Will Last Forever
Carefully examine the language Paul uses in 2 Corinthians. He says, “our light affliction, which is but for a moment…” Let’s examine that for a moment, because that is not how it feels when trials come is it? It never feels “light,” and it never seems like it is over in a “moment”.
The word “affliction” refers to “tribulation, trouble, pressure”. The word “light” means “easy”. So here Paul says that the “pressure” he is under is “easy”.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. -Romans 8:18
Nothing we face here is “worthy to be compared with the glory” we will experience there. Our problem is this: we hear this, but we don’t believe it!
- What we believe is what we see.
- What we believe is what we feel.
- What we believe is the pressure we feel.
- We never think it is “easy”.
- You never hear a believer testify about their problems and say “they are light”!
The reason Pau was able to say this and we are not is all a matter of perspective. We have our eyes on the here and now; Paul had his on the then and there.
3. Everything we Face in Life Has Meaning
Paul tells us that our “affliction” “worketh for us.” That is a fantastic statement! When things happen in our lives, we often look at them and think they are meaningless. We wonder how anything that painful, that senseless, that tragic, can have any meaning. But, it does!
If you are a child of God, nothing that happens in your life is meaningless. Everything that takes place is all a part of your Father’s plan to develop you as His child. Just a reminder: God didn’t save you to make you happy. He didn’t save you to bless you. He saved you to make you like Jesus. That is His eternal purpose.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. -Romans 8:28–29
Thus, nothing in your life as a Christian is meaningless.
- When cancer comes and drains away your life, it is not meaningless.
- When your heart breaks and your dreams shatter, it is not meaningless.
- When your loved one dies, it is not meaningless.
- When the tragedies of this life pile on you one after the other and you are broken, weary, and battered, it is not meaningless!
No, these things are “working for you!” They are for your benefit!
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. -Romans 8:18
We can keep from losing heart because in every area we fall short and fail, God has given us what we need to keep going through His son, Jesus. The only way to be renewed for each new day is by relying on Him!