GOD VISION

Saturday, June 16
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1   (The Message)
"So, we're not giving up!  How could we?  Even though, on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.  These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us.  There's far more here than meets the eye.  The things we see now are here today and gone tomorrow.  But the things we can't see now will last forever.  For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven - God-made, not handmade, - and we'll never have to relocate our 'tents' again. "
     As we get older and the 'outside tent' wrinkles, the seams deteriorate, and in general the physical body begins to fall apart, it is encouraging to read that God is working his grace on the more permanent INSIDE.  Our outside is temporary, it is only 'skin deep'.  It is within us that matters to God.  God is at work on what we can't see.
     Do we believe that in ourselves?  Do we see in ourselves the potential that God sees?  Do we believe it when we meet others, especially those who are 'different'?  Or do we see the unkempt hygiene, the tattoos and strange clothing, the body piercings, and thereby judge the inside by what we see on the outside?  Especially with young people trying to grow comfortable with themselves, the outside 'tent' can be widely displayed, but the inside self is struggling to find God like everyone else.  Can we use our eyes to see as God sees?  As we are sent out as missional people, we need to borrow God's glasses, his God Vision, to view our world.