Words of Encouragement

You are not just a physical person having an occasional spiritual experience. You are a spiritual person having a physical experience — and the spiritual dimension of your life is just as real, just as active, and just as important as everything you can see and touch and measure. Your inner being is being renewed right now — today, in this moment, in this season — even if your outer person feels the weight of time and trouble. The difficulties you are facing are not wasted. They are not random. They are producing something of such eternal weight and glory that Paul says there is simply no comparison. Wake up to that today friend. Both eyes open — natural and spiritual. That is the fully alive, fully awake Kingdom life you were designed for. And it is available to you right now.

Words of Encouragement

What you are going through right now may feel very real — and it is. But it is not the most real thing in your life. The most real thing in your life is the unseen — the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, the eternal purpose being worked out through your trouble, the glory being produced in the very place that feels the most painful. Paul didn't write these words from a comfortable study — he wrote them from a place of genuine suffering. And he still said the troubles are slight and short-lived compared to what is being produced. You are not just surviving your season. You are being shaped by it into something of eternal, weighty glory. The unseen is at work in you — right now, today, in this very moment. Don't give up. The most real part of your story is still invisible — and it is magnificent.

Reflection Questions

• What "other things" have been keeping you from fully accepting God's invitation to feast with Him?

• Are you settling for "McDonald's" spirituality instead of the King's extravagant feast?

• How can you better appreciate that God has prepared a personal feast for you right in front of your enemies?