Sometimes life reaches a place where we do not have all the answers. Sometimes ministry reaches that place. Sometimes churches reach that place. Sometimes individual Christians reach that place.
Paul knew that feeling.
He said, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair.”
I understand the word perplexed.
Perplexed means I do not completely understand what is happening. I cannot see clearly where everything is going. I do not necessarily know what tomorrow looks like.
But Paul tells us that perplexity does not have to become despair.
Why?
Because our confidence was never supposed to rest in our ability to understand everything.
Our confidence rests in Jesus Christ.
Paul says, “We do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.”
That is what I want us to remember today.
This church does not belong to me.
It does not belong to another pastor.
It does not belong to an elder, a family, a group, or a generation.
The church belongs to Jesus Christ.
And every one of us, including every pastor and every leader, is a jar of clay.
The vessel is fragile.
The treasure is Christ.
So when the vessel gets tired, confused, disappointed, or wounded, the treasure has not changed.
Jesus is still Lord.
The gospel is still true.
Grace is still sufficient.
The Holy Spirit is still at work.
The Word of God is still trustworthy.
And the mission Christ gave His church has not changed.
Paul therefore reaches this conclusion: “We do not lose heart.”
Not because everything around him was going well.
It was not.
He did not lose heart because he had learned to look beyond what he could presently see.
Some things that look enormous today will one day look very small in the light of eternity.
And some things that seem small today, faithfulness, forgiveness, prayer, truth, kindness, repentance, obedience, loving one another, may prove to have eternal significance.
So perhaps our prayer today does not need to be, “Lord, explain everything to us.”
Perhaps our prayer should be:
“Lord, keep our eyes on Jesus.”
When we are afflicted, keep us from being crushed.
When we are perplexed, keep us from despair.
When we are knocked down, raise us again.
When we become discouraged, remind us that this ministry exists because of Your mercy.
And whatever happens around us, make Jesus Christ greater in our eyes than everything else.
Therefore, church, we do not lose heart.
We may not know everything that comes next.
But we know the One who does.
And Jesus Christ is still Lord.
Amen.
John Hargrove Seeking Truth and Reality 