Do Not Lose Heart
Dear Friends,
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16We spend so much time talking about keeping our bodies fit, but spend little or no time making sure that our hearts are kept in good spiritual health. We rely so much on everything going right in order to keep us in a cheerful mood but the Bible tells us to “not lose heart” when everything around us seems to be “wasting away.”
I remember reading about a girl’s volleyball team in a small rural village that had achieved an unbelievable winning record of 65 games. What was so incredible about the success was that the school had only 18 girls in total and 16 of them were on the volleyball team. Although it was one of the smallest schools in the state, it won the volleyball championship for three years running. Then, after 65 victories, they were eventually defeated. The local paper reported the defeat with a large headline. Then, two days later, another headline appeared in the small paper “Team Rebounds with a Winning Streak of One.”
The key to not “losing heart” is making sure that we understand and believe that even in defeat we can be renewed in Christ. Defeats come and go in this life and that will never change. Yet, for us Christians, defeat is one of those things that we strive to manage amidst the expectation that even in disappointment, we are victorious in Christ. We Christians should always be on the rebound. When one foot is mired in defeat, the other should already be moving on; looking for that “winning streak of one!” The renowned Quaker Rufus Jones was speaking of the importance of having a radiant countenance. After his address, a woman "with an almost unbelievably stern face" came up and asked him what he would do if he had a face like hers. He replied, "While I have troubles of my own of that kind, I've discovered that if you light it up from within, any old face you have is good enough."
Shalom,
J.John
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