“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 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, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV

I am mama to a two-month-old baby boy, and my life has seemingly dissolved into a million tiny storms that swirl around into one massive tornado I call a day. The baby needs to be held, the dishes need to be cleaned, the laundry is stacking up, the office needs to be organized, the baby’s peed all over the bed, my breastmilk is leaking through my shirt… I think you get the point. I constantly am battling a swarm of troubles that feel consuming and unending.

Through the first six weeks of my son’s life, my world seemed to have shrunk to the size of his bassinet and the mound of cloth diapers that needed to be washed. Everyday, I woke up feeling guilty of all the things on my to-do list I couldn’t get to, and I went to bed ashamed of what I had finished.

There didn’t seem to be an end to the million little storms, and each day was beginning to feel like Groundhog’s day. My morning alarm might as well have been, ““Okay campers, rise, and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cold out there.”

I sat, in my robe, with my leaky breasts, hair two days past wash, wrestling with the emotions of a difficult labor, recovering from the subsequent c-section, and feeling weighed down. 

I knew that God was in the midst of my motherhood, but where was He in the middle of my chaotic schedule.?

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 found me like a cool morning. Paul summarizes every trouble under the sun into one set category: light and momentary. Under the examination of heaven’s eye, this is what all troubles come out to be, only light and momentary.

Heaven is of greater weight, and the breadth of eternity is of greater value than anything earthly that causes us grief.

I committed 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 to memory, and have begun to recite it through the daily storms that arise. When I’m cleaning up the super blow-out diaper, or stuck on the phone with insurance. Taking the mindset and perspective of normalcy in the middle of troubles makes them feel less surprising or devastating when they crop up.

I remind myself, in comparison to Heaven, these are light and momentary troubles. God knew these moments would be in my life, and although my flesh wants to call them overwhelming, God sees them in the context of history.

Today, as we reach the middle of our week, I commend you to post this verse where you can see it in your home, or workspace, and to pray. Pray and memorize this verse. Our trials are light and momentary, but Heaven will be full and forever. I pray this encouraged you today.