“Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us . .” 2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV
“It is foolish to make a permanent decision as a result of a temporary situation.”
My thoughts today are about “imperfect knowledge.”
It is tempting and all too common to jump to a wrong conclusion when you don’t yet have all the information, and maybe you never will have all the information. The Bible is never more true than when Paul writes, “Now we know in part and we prophesy in part.” 1 Corinthians 13:9 NKJV. Wise – and appropriately humble – is the person who remembers there is usually more to know than they presently know.
As wise as Solomon was known to be, still he wrote, “There are four things I do not understand: how an eagle glides through the sky, how a snake slithers on a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, and how a man loves a woman.” Proverbs 13:18-19 NLT. I think that last one is a common enigma to all! Have you never embarrassed yourself by insisting on your correctness on some debatable point of information, only to find you were wrong? Don’t you hate that? You can’t always know what you think you do. I’m a frequent flier on that route.
There are plenty of areas where I struggle with imperfect knowledge and understanding. I have imperfect knowledge of the ways of God. See Isaiah 55:8-10 NLT. I have imperfect knowledge of Heaven. See 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NIV. I confess my imperfect knowledge of healing. See James 5:14-16 NIV/Isaiah 53:4-5 NIV. But those barely scratch the surface of my lack.
I have imperfect knowledge of affliction and adversity. David struggled with that as well. Read Psalm 78:2-26 NLT. “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. ” 2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV. How do you even begin to understand that? But you can believe that because you can believe God who has complete and perfect knowledge!
How could anything that hurts so badly be viewed as good for you, ever? I guess that in such a bewildering season a broader perspective is needed. Here’s what I do know. The Bible says affliction and adversity is “light (and) but for a moment.” What can feel like forever is really of brief duration in the overall scheme of life and eternity. Affliction in the confines of God’s hand and providence is “working for (you) a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” The key is your perspective – on the known or not yet known, on the visible now or invisible till then, on the temporal or eternal. Read Romans 11:33-36 NLT.
Really, all of life as you presently know it is temporary and transient. An impulse buy is irresistible, so an unwise debt is made. A job is hard work, so a rash decision is to quit. A marriage isn’t going well, so people file for divorce (by the way, most differences are not irreconcilable!). Your feelings are hurt, so a friend is “defriended,” and not only on Facebook. A teen is struggling to find out who they are, so they’re branded as incorrigible. It is the height of foolishness to make permanent decisions as a result of a temporary situation. Yet people do that all the time; don’t be one of them. And don’t make a permanent decision about things you don’t yet understand. Time and truth can be great teachers, if you are willing to be a good learner.
My prayer for you today is that you live for more than the fleeting moment.