by Ken Weliever, The Preacherman<\/p>\n
“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord — for we walk by faith, not by sight — we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord<\/em>” (II Corinthians 5:1-8).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Her father died in her infancy. When she was four years old, she was left paralyzed following a spinal infection that rendered her an invalid. She lived her life in a wheelchair. And suffered the uncertain ravages of the Civil War. But Jennie Bain Wilson lived a productive and joyful life as she grew up in rural Indiana.<\/p>\n
In 1881, at age 25 she was carried into a creek in her wheelchair and baptized into Christ. She wrote, “It gave me much joy to thus confess my dear Savior.” Jennie’s life was then dedicated to her love of music and poetry. She penned over 2200 poems. One of her most famous poems set to music and found in many hymnals is “Hold To God’s Unchanging Hand.”<\/p>\n
The first verse offers this insight and exhortation<\/p>\n
Time is filled with swift transition,
\nNaught of earth unmoved can stand,
\nBuild your hopes on things eternal,
\nHold to God’s unchanging hand<\/blockquote>\nIn today’s text, Paul is essentially admonishing us in a similar vein. He speaks as one who has suffered hardship, endured trials, and experienced adversity, yet he provides a hopeful assurance of the Christian’s future.<\/p>\n
Note these declarative affirmations.<\/p>\n
We Know<\/h2>\n
There’s a lot we don’t know. But through God’s Word, we know everything we need to know to live an abundant life. We can know God. Know Jesus. Know the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Know that His promises are steadfast and sure. Like Paul, we know.<\/p>\n
We Have<\/h2>\n
Paul was a tentmaker. So, he compared this body to a tent. Something temporary. Weak. And lacking beauty. But, there’s something we have. “A building from God.<\/em>” A heavenly house. A glorified body. One that is permanent. Glorious. And immortal. Interestingly, he spoke of it like he was already in possession of it. And in his mind, he was.<\/p>\n
We Groan<\/h2>\n
No doubt the debilitating condition Jennie Wilson suffered led to a great deal of groaning. There’s no question, Paul suffered physically, mentally, and emotionally. He was beaten. Stoned. Imprisoned. Imperiled. Misrepresented. Misunderstood. And weary from his work for the Lord.<\/p>\n
The problems, perplexities, and predicaments of our earthly existence produce either an audible groan or an inner sigh. And we all know the feeling when we suffer pain, experience loss, feel heartache and walk in the shadow of death.<\/p>\n
We Walk<\/h2>\n
Yet, through it all, Paul said, “we walk by faith and not by sight<\/em>.” As Paul wrote earlier our focus is not on what we see, but on what we don’t see with the naked eye. What we literally see is temporal and transitory. But what we see through the eye of faith is spiritual and eternal (II Corinthians 4:16-18).<\/p>\n
Thus, we walk in the light of God’s Word. We walk in the footsteps of Jesus. We walk in love. We walk according to our Christian calling. We walk in wisdom. And we walk not as pagan people in the lusts of their flesh. We walk according to His commandments. We walk in the Spirit.<\/p>\n
We’re Confident<\/h2>\n
The result of this approach to life is confidence. Assurance. Trust. And courage. Twice in the text, Paul expresses confidence in his eternal future.<\/p>\n
We too, can take heart in this hope, and not lose heart regardless of life’s troubles, trials, and temptations to quit.<\/p>\n
So, we share and sing with Jennie Wilson the sentiments of her song:<\/p>\n
Trust in Him who will not leave you.
\nWhatsoever years may bring.
\nIf by earthly friends forsaken,
\nStill more closely to Him cling.\nCovet not this world’s vain riches
\nThat so rapidly decay.
\nSeek to gain the heav’nly treasures.
\nThey will never pass away.\nWhen your journey is completed,
\nIf to God you have been true,
\nFair and bright the home in Glory
\nYour enraptured soul will view.\nHold to His hand, to God’s unchanging hand.
\nHold to His hand, to God’s unchanging hand.
\nBuild your hopes on things eternal.
\nHold to God’s unchanging hand.<\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Ken Weliever, The Preacherman “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[250,1058,521,182,188,129],"class_list":["post-55047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-confidence","tag-ii-corinthians","tag-songs","tag-suffering","tag-trials","tag-trust"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5296,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-the-inner-man-refer-to-in-scripture\/","url_meta":{"origin":55047,"position":0},"title":"What does ‘the inner man’ refer to in scripture?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: II Corinthians 4:16 and some other scriptures refer to 'the inner man'. What does 'the inner man' mean? Answer: Let us look at all the verses concerning the \"inner man\" to help shed some light on your question. \"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10993,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-god-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":55047,"position":1},"title":"How could God die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question was about Jesus, who is God and human. The Bible tells us that Jesus died, but Jesus who is God cannot die. That only leaves Jesus who is human. This means Jesus the Human died on the cross, which means a human paid for all human sins.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94153,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/eternal-life-imagine\/","url_meta":{"origin":55047,"position":2},"title":"Eternal Life: Imagine","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Jesus brought immortality to light and made it real by demonstrating His resurrection from the dead. Now we know that eternal life is real. The prophetic word spoke of it, and then Jesus confirmed it; the eyewitnesses verified it. It is not a matter of blind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28510,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-i-be-handicapped-in-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":55047,"position":3},"title":"Will I be handicapped in heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was born with a handicap. It has since become worse. I have applied for disability but can not seem to receive it. Why was I pick for this? What did I do to deserve this? If I die tomorrow, will I be handicapped in heaven? Who should I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43900,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-should-i-tell-my-son-who-has-a-fear-of-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":55047,"position":4},"title":"What should I tell my son who has a fear of death?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What should I tell my son who has a fear of death like me? He is only six but seems to be afraid of the concept of death. Answer: In order for you to help him, you will first have to conquer your own fears. \"How can you say\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30780,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-am-i-suffering-like-this\/","url_meta":{"origin":55047,"position":5},"title":"Why am I suffering like this?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm in my early twenties. I'm suffering from arthritis for several years. I took many treatments, but I'm not able to find a cure. I'm a Christian. One more thing is that I was in a relationship with a girl. I loved her like anything. I have touched her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55047\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}