Good Morning Friends,
Yesterday I had cataract surgery at Saint Luke’s in Tarpon Springs and got a new lens for my eye. I will go back tomorrow for my second eye. I am seeing better already. Thanks for your prayers. As a thanks I share a poem at the end of today’s devotional as a hymn to be sung to the tune of the Doxology. But first let us look at some scripture that helps us to see. Today we look at scripture that forms us, the Lord who confronts us, and the God who works beyond us to help us see through a new lens. Paul often expresses the paradox: He is radically transformed by Christ. Yet he feels painfully aware of his ongoing weakness, limitation, and “not yet” transformation. Think of:“I do not do the good I want…” (Romans 7) “I am the least of the apostles…” (1 Corinthians 15) “We have this treasure in jars of clay…” (2 Corinthians 4) Paul’s inner tension mirrors the Servant’s lament in Isaiah 49: “I feel spent… yet God is doing more than I can see.” Maybe you feel like that from time to time too. From this experience Paul urges Timothy to persevere despite discouragement. But Paul’s inner tension raises a question: What Is God Doing We Have Not Been Able To See Yet?
Summary of the Scriptures
2 Timothy 3:10–17 Paul urges Timothy to persevere in hardship, grounding his life in the God‑breathed Scriptures that alone can make us wise for salvation and equip us for every good work.
Mark 12:35–37 Jesus expands the crowd’s understanding of the Messiah, revealing that He is not merely David’s son but David’s Lord—greater than their expectations.
Colossians 1:23 Paul describes the gospel as the message “proclaimed to every creature under heaven,” emphasizing its universal scope and unstoppable advance.
Isaiah 49 The Servant feels spent and ineffective—“I have labored in vain”—yet God responds by enlarging His mission: “It is too small a thing…” The Servant’s apparent weakness becomes the stage for God’s global redemption.
Message: The gospel does not simply give us new beliefs, it gives us a new interpretive lens for our discouragement, our calling, and our sense of impact. Today’s passages together help create that lens. Paul tells Timothy that the Christian life is sustained not by charisma or cultural approval but by Scripture that is breathed out by God. The Word forms us, corrects us, restores us, and equips us. But Paul writes these words as a man who knows discouragement. He often felt the tension between his dramatic conversion and his ongoing weakness. He knew what it meant to feel like a “jar of clay.” Many people guess at what the thorn was in his side, but we are never told. The thing is that we all have thorns too. That tension echoes the Servant’s cry in Isaiah 49: “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing…” Even the Servant feels the ache of apparent fruitlessness. But God answers by expanding the mission: “It is too small a thing…” “I will make you a light to the nations…” And so too it is with Paul.This is the same movement we see in Colossians 1:23, the gospel proclaimed “to every creature under heaven.” God’s mission is always larger than our perception of our impact. Something fundamentally changed at the resurrection. Mark 12 widens the lens for His disciples. Jesus reveals that the Messiah is not merely David’s son but David’s Lord. The One who calls us, equips us, and sends us is infinitely greater than our categories.
And So, put together, these passages teach a single truth: God forms us through His Word, confronts our assumptions through His Son, and accomplishes His mission through our weakness. We may feel like the Servant, spent, unseen, and ineffective. We may feel like Paul, transformed yet painfully aware of our limits. We may feel like Timothy, overwhelmed by pressures we didn’t choose. But God is doing more than we can see. His Word is equipping us. His Son is reigning over us. His gospel is advancing beyond us. Our weakness is not an obstacle to God’s mission. It is the very place where His power is revealed.
Pray our Lord Jesus, David’s Son and David’s Lord, meet us in our discouragement and expand our vision. Pray that when we feel spent, remind us that Your mission is never small. Pray that when we feel weak, You breathe Your Word into us again. Pray You make us wise for salvation, steady in suffering, and willing to be used in ways we cannot measure. Pray we do not stand in the way of the gospel that reaches every creature and reaches every corner of our lives. Amen.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Hymn for Saint Luke’s (to the tune of the Doxology)
O Light of God, restore our sight; Shine through our days with healing light; Bless those who care with gentle grace; Give patients hope to see Your face; And lead our hearts where mercy guides— Till faith beholds what love provides.
Daily Devotionals 