The last couple of weeks my blog experienced a number of phishing attacks. I pay for security features which block all these nefarious assaults, but a setting is turned on that sends me an email every time this happens and I’m now getting over a hundred emails a day. I know there must be a way to deal with the issue, but I need to take the time to go online and figure it out. It’s a hassle I’d rather do without.

Paul wrote about challenges and hassles in life, his much more painful and difficult than my technical problems. Addressing the church in Corinth, Paul recounted the painful trials he faced, the persecutions for preaching about Jesus, and the blows received upon his body. He gloried in the fact that the death working in him brought life to the people of Corinth. He added this piece of wisdom:

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Although consuming much of my time and attention, the frustrations of this world eventually pass. Issues grabbing my attention and energy prove transient. Money, prestige, and power all take wings.

However, the eternal exists all around us. I close my eyes and gain a sense of this hidden world. Unseen things, like God in heaven, the hopes and fears of those around me, spiritual battles, and even my own soul live in an eternal sphere. On the other hand, most of what I deal with daily takes place in an impermanent state.

I’ll get my blog issue figured out and skip along happily until the next system crash. These frustrations fail to smudge the eternal goodness of God. Paul reminds me of where to place my hope, and may the Lord keep me thinking on the eternal rather than the transient.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Photo by Dániel Barczikay