Is there an unchanging, difficult situation you face? One that, apart from an outright miracle, will remain the same? Are you struggling to learn how to endure it?
The toughest challenges in life are those we can’t explain or understand. The ones that provoke these kinds of questions: Why is this happening? What is God trying to accomplish through this? For those types of adversities, we must keep an eternal view.
Seeing the Spiritual Realm
Dick’s comments: Cindi and I have an extraordinary nephew named Joel. He is the 33-year-old son of Cindi’s brother, Glenn, and his wife, Leelo. At age 7, Joel experienced a series of violent seizures, brought on by what was later diagnosed as encephalitis. It affected his brain and left him severely impaired. Joel has recurring seizures and severe challenges in the basic elements of life such as speaking and caring for himself. Even so, it is a miracle Joel is alive, and he seems to live with one foot in heaven—amazingly connected with the spiritual realm, constantly speaking of “Jesus, angels, and heaven.”
During a recent family event, I was sitting with Glenn and Joel at a coffee shop in the North Carolina mountains. Joel’s eyes were bright and animated as he sat across from me, seeming to look far beyond me. It was as if he was viewing spiritual activity in a realm we couldn’t see, and when we asked, he tried to express it as well as he could. Whether it was Jesus or angels, one thing was clear: Joel was viewing something eternal.
The irony is that less than an hour later, as Cindi and I sat with Joel and Glenn on the sunlit patio of our hotel, Joel had a massive seizure. His father and I held on to him as best we could, trying to keep him from injuring himself as he convulsed.
As we both clung to Joel, I found myself struggling to maintain an eternal view, asking the Lord what purpose was served by him enduring these constant seizures.
An Eternal Weight of Glory
Philip’s comments: Dick and I have several friends who are presently facing these kinds of long-term challenges in life, especially with their children. Of course, we hope and pray for miraculous healing for them. We also pray for extra grace for these dear parents who deal with these circumstances—that they can keep an eternal view.
Paul speaks realistically and helpfully about life’s adversities in 2 Corinthians 4. He begins in verse 1 with a bold statement: “We do not lose heart.” He reiterates this stance in verse 16–18: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.” Paul is not making light of affliction; he is just urging us to keep an eternal view.
Sufficient Grace
Philip and Dick: The message conveyed in this passage is not a collection of empty words. Rather, it is a deep truth Paul lived out in the very depths of his experience.
We read in 2 Corinthians 12 about an obstacle in Paul’s life, what is referred to in verse 7 as his “thorn in the flesh.” His preference was that the Lord would remove it, give him relief, and set him free from its effects. “Concerning this thing [the thorn in the flesh] I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me” (v. 8). Paul didn’t just ask—he pleaded. But the Lord was teaching him to keep an eternal view.
Anyone contending with such a relentless challenge in life can identify with Paul’s hope that the Lord would simply remove the difficult, long-term problem. But we read in verse 9 how the Lord responded to his pleas: “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’”
The phenomenon of human suffering is an opportunity for each of us to experience the grace of God on a level we would not experience otherwise. That benefit does not relieve the pain of adversity. But it does help us depend upon the Lord for His unfailing grace as we endure unchanging, difficult situations. It helps us to keep an eternal view.
God’s Strength in Us
In a one-week radio series called “Strength through Weakness,” Derek Prince expands upon the struggle of the apostle Paul which was shared in the section above.
I will read Paul’s personal testimony about how he found strength out of weakness. These words are found in 2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (NIV). They sum up in a very beautiful way the message I am trying to communicate.
Paul was a man who had tremendous revelations. He received tremendous truth from God that has been a blessing to all Christians of all subsequent ages. But he had to pay a price for it. This is what he says: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. [There was some spiritual force at work in Paul’s life. It was unnatural; it was demonic. Many times it caused him great agony, and tremendous personal problems.] Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But the Lord said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
That is the paradox, isn’t it? “When I am weak, then I am strong.” When I have come to the end of all my own strength, all my own wisdom, all my own cleverness, all my own ability; when I have no more answers; when I’m pressed right down to the ground; that is when God’s strength is made available to me.
Talking It Through
So, what about the stubborn situation you are facing right now? Are you experiencing God’s sufficient grace? Have you endured it by keeping an eternal view? Or do you need to talk it out more? Let’s take a moment to go to the Lord right now.
Father, I admit that I don’t see what is being accomplished through the difficulty I am facing. I don’t understand why it doesn’t improve. It’s hard to accept that it may remain the way it is. I am trying to endure it, Lord, trusting this situation is working into me “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
My temptation is to beg for it to be removed or changed immediately, and I believe You could easily do that with a miracle. Nevertheless, I want Your greater work to be accomplished in me, even if that requires added endurance on my part. You are my sovereign Lord, and I trust You, no matter the outcome. Amen.
Entrusting Ourselves to Him
Thank you for joining in this honest prayer of confession to the Lord. Yes, it is hard to understand why some situations improve after our petitions and pleas while others do not. With our prayer, we have entrusted ourselves to the Lord’s sufficient grace.
Whatever you are going through, you don’t have to endure it alone. Please know that all of us at Derek Prince Ministries count it a privilege to stand with you in prayer and support. We hope you will access the teaching resources that can sustain you, starting with “Strength through Weakness,” the message used for Derek’s quote.
The materials we provide are one way for us to stand with you in the adversities you face in your walk of faith with Jesus Christ. It is our honor to do so, and through what we send, we convey our deep appreciation for your gifts and your prayers for us.
Staying the Course
As we close this letter, let’s return to the encouraging declaration we pointed out earlier when we cited 2 Corinthians 4:1 and 4:16: “We do not lose heart.”
One key reason for not losing heart is the hope of heaven. It is the realization that in eternity, we will interact freely with our impaired loved ones who will no longer be hampered in any way. Revelation 21:4 promises: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” What a day that will be!
In the meantime, if your situation is like that of Glenn and Leelo and our many other friends who care for loved ones with physical impairments, we continue to stand together in faith and hope. The promise for us and our loved ones in enduring such situations is the spiritual benefit Paul presents: “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). As wonderful as that promise may be, it still takes gritty determination to endure. So, as Paul says, “We do not lose heart.”
Yes, we press on, despite our questions and our wishes that the Lord would simply take it all away. Yes, we continue to care for our loved ones and for those of our family and friends. Yes, we do it all with one clear determination: to keep an eternal view.
Sincerely in Christ,
Philip Wyns
President, DPM-USA
All the best,
Dick Leggatt
Executive Consultant/Senior Editor
