Our Ultimate Resilience

We who have hope in Christ have the capacity for ultimate resilience. It’s not that we are so amazing, but that God and his glory have been placed inside of us. Through God we are given the strength we need to fight, for faith is not an easy path – it is a daily battle, and Christ gives us the hope to come through. Consider this powerful passage from the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians:

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our body…Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

In that beautiful imagery, we see that it is the hope of our eternal treasure in God that gives us resilience. When you receive the all-surpassing power of Jesus, you can never be destroyed. Because what is crushed on the outside never affects the inside, which is being renewed eternally for God’s glory.

The reason it’s hard to explain this experience with words is because it almost can’t be described. It’s the same experience Peter shares when he says, “you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” When you have accepted salvation by grace through faith, it is an inexpressible experience. There is nothing more powerful than knowing you have an eternal hope in Jesus Christ, that no matter what befalls you in this life, you are being renewed for your future. Take heart in your eternal treasure, place your trust in Christ, and know that through him you are gloriously resilient.

*References from 2 Corinthians 4:7-11;16 and 1 Peter 1:4