Paul spent a good bit of
time in Ephesus but it was not as pleasant as the opening of his letter might
lead one to believe. He was imprisoned more than once and faced opposition so
far beyond his ability to endure that he despaired of life itself. But he stayed
on despite feeling himself under the sentence of death because of the
opportunities that persecution presented him. It is in the face of external
opposition and inner turmoil that Paul makes these claims that seem to fly in
the face of reason. You are holy and blameless and blessed with every spiritual
blessing. You were destined from the beginning of time to inherit the riches of
God’s grace and sealed by the promised Holy Spirit to live for the praise of
God’s glory. These are words of encouragement for Paul as well as the Ephesians
to see beyond the temporal into the eternal and so endure even though the whole
world conspired to persecute the church to death. While we do not suffer such
persecutions we do experience hardships beyond our ability to endure and one
does not need to be thrown into prison or face wild beasts in the arena to
despair of life itself. The temptation is to believe the temporary will never
end because what Paul might call “slight and momentary hardships” (2
Corinthians 4:17) are anything but when you are the one living in them. But
that is why faith looks to the past, before the foundation of the world when we
were chosen by God, and at the same time peers into the future when the inheritance of unfading glory
will be fully realized. It does not mean we will not despair of life itself or
face hardships beyond our ability to endure. It does mean that all is not lost
even if your whole world conspires against you because the present, no matter
how long it lasts, is temporary and even if you cannot endure God will. And
that is a promise you can count on no matter what.
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