This Too Shall Pass

When I was younger, there was a verse in the Bible that brought me great comfort: “This too shall pass”.  Whether it was during times of grief, weathering a personal storm in my life, or say something like a pandemic…I would cling to those four words. 

Only problem is it’s not in the Bible!  It’s one of the classics like “God works in mysterious ways”.  Not in there.  Or the often misquoted “Money is the root of all evil”.  (It’s actually “the love of money” that is the root of all evil.) 

 But there is a verse in God’s Word written by a guy named Paul almost 2000 years ago to a community of believers in modern-day Greece.  It’s found in 2 Corinthians 4:17 and it says, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” 

 That verse has helped me over the past few days as the world reacts to the spread of the Coronavirus with fear, anxiety and hysteria.  And Paul knew what he was talking about.  He had to endure many things.  He was whipped, beaten, stoned (not the kind you may be thinking of), shipwrecked and on and on.

 But the Apostle Paul knew where his hope was found. It wasn’t in temporary things but in an eternal hope found in Jesus Christ, both now and forever.  It’s why he could boldly say to his companion Timothy, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 

My prayer is for you to take courage in your heart, have peace in your mind, and have love for God, your neighbor and yourself.  Hold on to Hope.  The kind that can only be found in our Savior, Redeemer, Rescuer, Protector, and Healer: Jesus Christ.  Know that this “light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” 

Or in other words, this too shall pass. 

Tyler Trent