Photo. Justine Blick, Okoboji 2013

WOW. Heartache is not to just be endured. It actually is producing something. I love how the Bible argues – SEVEN key reasons NOT to lose heart in heartache.

The Apostle Paul says: Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison

First, heartache is producing something.

“What is coming to Paul is not momentary, but eternal. It is not light, but weighty. It’s not affliction, but glory. And it is beyond all comprehension. Eye has not seen nor ear heard what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9).

And the point is not that the afflictions merely
precede the glory; they help produce the glory. There is a real causal connection between how we endure hardship now and how much we will be able to
enjoy the glory of God in the ages to come. Not one moment of patient pain is wasted. I do not lose heart . . . FOR all my troubles are producing for me an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (see Piper link below).”

Second, 7 key reasons not to lose heart in heartache.

“This text (2 Corinthians 4:7-18) is one lavish invitation from God for you to look at all the reasons why you don’t have to lose heart—all the reasons why you can be renewed day by day.

1. Look! The power of God and the life of his Son are manifested in your weakness.
2. Look! The life of Jesus is flowing through your suffering into the lives of other people.
3. Look! God sustains you in your afflictions and will not let you be destroyed.
4. Look! Your afflictions will not have the last word; you will rise from the dead with Jesus and with the church of God and live in joy forever and ever.
5. Look! Your afflictions are momentary. They are only for now, not for the age to come.
6. Look! Your afflictions are light. Compared to the pleasures of what is coming they are as nothing.
7. Look! These afflictions are producing for you an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

So LOOK! Focus! Meditate! Think on these things! Believe what God says. And you will not loose heart, but your inner person will be renewed day by day.”

http://www.esvbible.org/resources/piper-sermons/article-called-to-suffer-and-rejoice-for-an-eternal-weight-of-glory/