“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 15:57
Let me teach many of you a new word today: Ephemeral. Ephemeral means “lasting for a day only.” It’s kind of like the expression “here today gone tomorrow.” Christians need to understand that their victory in Jesus Christ is not ephemeral, but, eternal.
Satan, the world and your flesh will all lead you to believe that your position, your ability to overcome, and your victory are all but for a moment. But they are wrong, it is rather our suffering and “afflictions that are but for a moment” (2 Corinthians 4:17). The Bible tells us that this victory has the eternal weight of glory bearing down on us. God is being revealed to and in you, that is part of the eternal glory.
Not all pressure is bad pressure. Pressure causes stress. Stress will either produce cracks or change. Change is transformation and God is in the transforming business. Sometimes the “pressure” you are experiencing is the pressure of a victor. Some food, in order to be prepared fully, needs to undergo the pressure cooker. I didn’t say it is fun or pleasurable. Often walking in victory can be difficult. But, perhaps it is needed. What in your life is putting you under pressure? What is causing it?
But, this victory is producing in us an eternal glory “that is beyond all comparison.” Don’t let the minor obstacles of life become major hinderances, for remember your faith is not ephemeral. Don’t let your thanksgiving be either! Make a commitment this day to express “thanks be to God” throughout the pressures of your day, remembering that is is our Lord Jesus Christ “who gives us the victory.”
Be encouraged dear brother or sister with these words,
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer selfc 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.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, ESV