2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 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.”
It’s so difficult to look at things that are unseen. For one thing, the statement is, already, a kind of paradox. When you look at something that cannot be seen, it’s easy to be continually distracted from it by what can be seen. What can be seen demands attention; trouble that can be seen spells urgency and we cannot but attend. The things that can be seen include persecution, sickness, distress, privation, and so much else, and if we don’t intentionally turn our eyes from these seen things, we will not be able to properly behold and find joy and encouragement in those things that are unseen. But then, this is just the sort of thing that is easy to preach and so hard to do ourselves. May God grant us grace to learn to look and keep our eyes where he wants them to be.