Aches and Pains

My back hurts today. A reminder of yard work done a few days ago. My left heel hurts, the result of a heel spur that has developed over time. My knee was bothering me a bit this morning, that chronic tendinitis that shows up every once in a while. Shall I go on?

Of course not. You've got your own list of aches and pains, and, if you're like me, the list grows longer every year. My father, with the effects of three decades more of life than I have, is currently in the hospital due to a degenerative condition.

As those renowned philosophers the Rolling Stones said, "What a drag it is getting old."

The Bible has this to say: "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16. That's an encouraging point of view! No one can deny that our bodies are slowly wearing out; that's a discouraging fact if this life is all we have. But God gives us another chance, another reality. Our physical selves grow older, but God is willing to renew our inner beings, if we'll let him.

If we keep reading there in 2 Corinthians, we read: "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). This life doesn't have to be all there is. Those of us who are Christians can look forward to a wonderful life that has no end. We can't see it yet, but we know it's there. We know by faith.

We can live accepting the fact that each day will grow more painful, that each year will find our bodies weaker and weaker. Or we can go to God in faith and let him renew us on the inside, making us stronger and stronger each day. If you aren't living this reality, let me tell you about what God can do for you, of the hope he can give you for this life and the life to come. Write to me at tarcher@heraldoftruth.org or visit HopeforLife.org and leave a comment on our blog.