How do we respond when life seems pointless? When the wave of suffering seems, in itself, to be totally meaningless, what then? Pastor John Piper took up this essential topic in one of his most important sermons he has ever preached. Here’s a snippit from his 2013 sermon.
Paul really does experience not losing heart because of truths, realities that he puts into his head day by day, for renewal.
Look to the Unseen ~
16) We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17) For [because] 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. 18)For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)
What about the ‘for’ at the beginning of 2 Corinthians 4:17? Verse 17 is the main argument. It’s the main because, the main thing: this light momentary affliction is doing something. It’s working for us an eternal weight of glory. All verse 18 does is say, “Look at it. You can’t see it, but look at it.” If you look at the fallenness of man coming at you with his guns, or the fallenness of nature coming at you with its tsunamis, all you’re going to do is lose heart. Stop looking at that. Look at the unseen.
You might ask, “What unseen are you talking about? And how do you look at something that’s unseen? That’s a contradiction. You can’t look at what you can’t look at. You said it’s unseen. How do you look at the unseen, so as to not lose heart and so as to be renewed every day?” And verse 17 is the main unseen thing you look at. We do not lose heart because this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory.
Light and Momentary ~
What do you see when you look at verse 17? You see Paul calling his affliction, which lasted a lifetime, momentary. He called it light, and he called it momentary.
The contrast between momentary in verse 17 is eternal. And the contrast with light is weight. So, let’s read it again, and notice those parallels. Paul’s “light momentary affliction is preparing for him an eternal [that corresponds to momentary] weight [that corresponds to light] of glory.”
According to promise, Paul saw glory — the glory of God that would be seen, and the glory of God that would be given to him, and it made his lifelong suffering look momentary, and it made the weight of the pain look light.
“Glory — glory beyond the grave that’s going to so make up for this brief life that it will look momentary, and it will look light.” That’s the unseen you’ve got to look at.
Suffering Produces Glory ~
One more thing: it’s just so, so relevant for so many suffering people – this word ‘for’ in verse 17: preparing. Not only is all your affliction momentary, not only is all your affliction light in comparison to eternity and the glory there, but all of it is totally meaningful. Now, that is a very controversial statement because of how much insane suffering there is in the world.
I’ll say it again. “Not only is all your affliction light in comparison to eternity, but all of it is totally meaningful.”
Every time something horrific happens, an interviewer will say, “Meaningless.” And that is what it looks like. We’ve got the Internet so, we’ve got no excuse for not crying every day. Weep with those who weep, right?
This text says our “light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight.” It doesn’t say that our affliction “will be followed by an eternal weight of glory.” That would be good enough. But that’s not what it says.
I’ll venture this: every millisecond of your pain from fallen nature or fallen man — every millisecond of your misery in the path of obedience — is producing a peculiar glory you will get because of that. That’s a very controversial statement — and I believe it.
If anybody says to me that a believer’s suffering was meaningless, I’ll be quiet, most likely, because they’re probably hurting really bad right now. But I’m going to come back eventually and say, “It wasn’t meaningless.” I don’t care if it was cancer or criticism. I don’t care if it was slander or sickness. It wasn’t meaningless. Because verse 17 says that my light, momentary, lifelong, total affliction is doing something. It’s doing something; it’s not meaningless.
Of course, you can’t see what it’s doing. This is the main unseen thing verse 18 is talking about. What’s the unseen you’re supposed to look at? You’re supposed to look at the promise of God in verse 17 that says your pain is doing something for you. You can’t see it. You can’t feel it. Either you see it with the eyes of faith and believe it because the text says it, or you lose heart.
Look to the unseen, and do not lose heart ~ Suffering Produces Glory ~
How do we do that? “Get alone with God, and preach His word into your mind until your heart sings.”
Link to Pastor John Piper’s full message: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/my-suffering-feels-meaningless-what-can-i-do?utm_campaign=Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=96803497&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-80s04extzpVSOTGbs9fNYCwiIIAiuyoi93KvZ7mj43ewKpzq_NqO6_hj1JgVT4KhAbGPT-0TnNHs5pg_Kd7C3HZEVJTg&utm_content=96803497&utm_source=hs_email