“For we fix our attention, not on the things that are seen, but on the things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

Paul is saying that we should focus our attention on things that have eternal significance rather than temporal, fleeting things. The things that are seen are temporary and will pass away. But the things that are unseen are eternal and will endure forever like Christ and God. The people of Corinth are struggling on what to do since Jesus died and there is no one to follow or believe if He isn’t on the Earth. But Paul reminds them that Jesus is still with us but He is in the heavens and we should look up to Him still because He died and got resurrected for us. 

The verse I chose really represents life well. Many times we look at the little details that happen in day-to-day life but the things and tangible objects that we fix our eyes on are not going to last forever. The things that last forever are things like love, trust, kindness and those are the things we need to give more attention to. The things we see are much less important than the things we don’t see. 

I run cross country and this year things didn’t go my way. I was under-performing to the standards I thought I was at and trained to be. I worked hard for most of the summer and was really excited coming into this year because I thought this is the year I need to show my skills for the college coaches to get recruited. But race after race, I didn’t get the results I wanted and I became more and more disappointed and lost more interest in the season because I just was not racing well. But as 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “For we fix our attention, not on the things that are seen, but on the things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever.” Now I realize the lessons that can be learned from the season and not look at it as a big disappointment. I was fixing my attention on what can be seen like the results of every race. Though my disappointment lasted a while, I realized in reading this verse that God likely also has bigger plans for me than just winning the race. Though I was disappointed, the unseen things from the season were friendships and team camaraderie that proved to be an extremely important part of my season.  

Prayer: Dear Lord, I pray that we all remember to devote more time to the unseen part of life rather than focusing on the seen. May we all rely on our faith in God’s Word and His love for us, the unseen, to see us through the toughest and happiest parts of life. Amen.