Are you giving up?

Why do we focus on what we see?  I think it is more normal for us to believe in what we can see and touch rather than something hidden or bigger.  What causes us to see the bigger thing?  It usually is something that grabs us by the neck and shakes us at our core!  What does this?  Being arrested for something that you did not do?  Being told that you have cancer?  Messing up so bad that you feel there is no hope at all to set things right?  The questions keep coming.  I ask myself how can I see the bigger picture without going through such a drastic wake up call.  The scripture seems to be one of the things that wake me up:

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (MSG)

Do you spend time trying to repair what is on the outside even though it is going to fall apart?  Is God making new life in you?  Does the future of God’s celebration outweigh your current hard times?  Are you depositing your life into what will last forever?