pressed on every side

I don't know who needs these words of encouragement from Paul in his second letter to the church in Corinth.

But here they are - these are for you...



2 Corinthians 4

7 We now have this light shining in our hearts,

     but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.

This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.


  8 We are pressed on every side by troubles,

        but we are not crushed.

We are perplexed,

        but not driven to despair.

9 We are hunted down,

        but never abandoned by God.

We get knocked down,

        but we are not destroyed.


10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus

     so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.



16 That is why we never give up.

Though our bodies are dying,

     our spirits are being renewed every day.

17 For our present troubles are small and won't last very long.

Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!

18 So we don't look at the troubles we can see now;

        rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.

For the things we see now will soon be gone,

     but the things we cannot see will last forever.