Wilfred Yoder is one of the most enthusiastic Christians I know, even though he has suffered with the pain of arthritis for many years. When people greet him and inquire, "How are you today?" he cheerfully answers, "Just fine!"
Those who know of his pain sometimes question his sincerity. "How can you say you’re fine when you’re in so much pain?" Wilfred’s standard response is: "How I feel has very little to do with how I am. You see, the part of me that hurts is just a shell, not the real me, and the real me is just fine!"
What Wilfred calls a shell, Paul called a tent (2 Corinthians 5:1). And the "real me" that Wilfred refers to, the apostle called the inward man (4:16).
Although Wilfred’s earthly tent is painful and perishing, he realizes that it is after all just a temporary housing for the inward man. One day he will exchange it for his permanent home awaiting in heaven. That is his confidence. But until then, the inward Wilfred is conscious of being renewed daily.
How are you today? Is your tent drooping? Remember, if Christ is your Savior and Lord, a perfect body awaits you one day. But until then, no matter what’s on the outside, on the inside we can say, "I’m just fine!" – Joanie E. Yoder
I am rejoicing in Christ today,
Though there are problems along the way;
He is the One who can help me say,
"The real me is just fine." – Hess
READ: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
Our body is perishing, but our spirit can be flourishing.