We Are Not Spiritless
Jan 19 2024 - Amy Raby
There are things in life that are unbearable. Things that shake you to the core. Things that reveal the truth about what you believe. A chronic diagnosis, the death of a daughter or son, the betrayal of your spouse. Things like loneliness, depression, fear, or hopelessness that seem to linger through the night and greet you in the morning all over again. What do you do when you come face to face with your worst imaginations in real time? When the thing you thought would do you in shows up on your doorstep, walks right in, pours a cup of tea and snuggles up next to you on the sofa. To live is to suffer; to love is to lose. No one is immune to the tragedies life deals out, and yet Jesus knew such tragedies would come. He knew that you would feel hated at times. That you would feel alone. That you would feel like giving up on Him, on yourself, or perhaps on taking another breath. He knew, and He had something to say about it.
You may be familiar with the barrage of woes Paul lists in II Corinthians 4. He rattles off these present tense circumstances the early church was living in:
We are hard pressed on every side.
We are perplexed.
We are persecuted.
We are struck down. (II Cor. 4:8-9 NIV)
Have you ever felt like that, like the walls are closing in on you every which way you turn? Like nothing makes sense around you and the questions go unanswered? Have you ever felt the fear of abuse or death or torture? Have you ever been punched in the face and knocked straight to the ground? This was the reality of the early followers of Jesus. This was the reality Jesus faced. Does that comfort you? If not, maybe this will. Paul offers these countering truths to his friends.
We are not crushed.
We are not in despair.
We are not abandoned.
We are not destroyed. (II Cor. 4:8-9 NIV)
My dear suffering brother, my sister, this too is your reality. Read them again. Let it sink in for a minute. No matter how heavy the weight of your grief. No matter how deep the sorrow. No matter how distant the relationship. No matter how hard the punch…those words reign as truth!
Paul sandwiches this anthem of the sufferer’s truth with one phrase, in verse 1 and 16:
We do not give up. (II Cor. 4:1, 16 CSB)
Why? Why don’t we give up when we are knocked down, abused, confused, and suffocated? Because we have the Spirit! “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (II Cor. 3:17 CSB). Paul wrote this declaration, “we do not give up” two times in just sixteen verses. He clearly wanted to reiterate this exhortation. Thayer defines “we do not give up” as, “to be utterly spiritless.” My weary friend, you are not spiritless! No matter how depleted you are. No matter how inadequate, exhausted or hopeless you find yourself, you have Spirit!
It is the Spirit who holds back the walls from crushing you. It is the Spirit who lifts your head to find help. The Spirit sits with you through the darkest nights. The Spirit stands between you and the grave. This is the promised reality in the middle of your worst nightmare: cosmic strength, hope, power, joy, and endurance lives and breathes in your very body (I Cor. 6:19-20). Christ is your hope for glory to come with the sunrise. Glory shines in the beauty of your faith in Him through the sufferings you bear. When you feel like you have been broken and beaten down to the point of death and you don’t see how you can make it through one more night, remember that you are not Spiritless! He is there, in you and with you, working to carry you and transform you for eternal glory (II Cor. 4:16-17). Christian, don’t lose heart! Do not faint in your fiery trials! By the power and promises of Christ, we do not give up!