For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 5:4-5)
While we are in our bodies on this earth, we groan and are burdened.
I had to look up these two words…groan and burdened. They are interesting Greek words. Groan is from a Greek word, stenos, meaning “to be in a narrow place” while burdened is from a Greek word, baros, meaning “heavy in weight.” So we are stuck in a narrow place with weights on top of us. That’s Paul’s picture of life on this earth.
As I get older I am understanding this more and more. When you reach 40, you start realizing how quickly life passes and how easily the body starts to break down. You also start witnessing more and more tragedy. Just this week I talked with someone who lost a precious grandson in an unexpected way, someone who lost a 36-year old friend to an aggressive cancer, and prayed for others who are waiting for test results or who are interceding for loved ones facing serious health issues. Life is beautiful…but it also cruel at times, tragic, hard to fathom. For instance, how do you fully contemplate the tragedy in Haiti? Thousands of parents gone, spouses killed, brothers and sisters missing, children taken away. You almost become numb to it.
Paul says that on this present earth we are like people living in temporal tents…stuck in a narrow place…oftentimes with heavy weights on our shoulders…longing for something better…waiting for heaven…when tears are wiped away, tragedies are ended, and what is mortal is swallowed up by life.
Death is swallowed up. It is removed, disarmed, defeated…and life reigns. O Grave, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? (1 Corinthians 15:55)
This is our hope. And it is guaranteed by God who made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit.
In the midst of life’s struggles, we hold onto the promise that God is preparing us for something better, that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (4:17).
And in the meantime, the Spirit of God walks with us through this narrow place, giving us daily strength to carry the burdens, and filling us with joy and peace as we pitch our tents on this earth waiting for God’s kingdom.