Against the odds...

"Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times."  vs 1

"Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.  If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken." vs 5-11

"So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever." vs 16-18  ( 2 Corinthians 4, the message )

I am often in a place of asking, "Does it have to be this hard?"  "Do I have to be battered by troubles... CONSTANTLY?"  And the answer I get is ... YES and NO!  It's one of the both/and's of scripture I have so often run into like a wall.  "Hard pressed on every side, but not crushed." I see it clear now, but I haven't always... the invincibility that I have in Christ when I remain in Him.  I have to be hard pressed in order to reveal Him in me and I have to be hidden in Him in so as not to be crushed.  So do I have to have trouble in this life, yep.  Pretty much it's gonna happen.  Does it need to crush me?  Nope.  Not if I'm located in this truth: "...I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."  (John 14:20)  And so it is, on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart, but on the inside God is more solid than any known substance on this planet, holding me tight and holding me together... against the odds.