2 Corinthians Chapter 4: Verses 16-18 (NLT)
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
1 John Chapter 3: Verses 2-3 (NLT)
Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
In this modern age we are encouraged to seize the day, and live in the moment for our life is short. Whilst its true that we should make the best of the time that we have, since life on earth, even at its longest is short, we sometimes forget that we are being prepared for eternity. Forever. God sees a much bigger picture. In the context of that picture, even the hardships that we face are just a small part of it, and God uses those times to draw us closer, and make us more like Him. But because we can’t see the whole picture, its easy for us to get caught up in the immediate things that we can see.
Paul tells the Corinthian Church to look beyond present times and trust that the future eternal things will far outweigh any of the things that we may face for the rest of our time on earth. Not that we shouldn’t live our lives to the full, because we should. Jesus said, He had come that we might have life, and that more abundantly. (John Chapter 10: Verse 10) We just don’t need to get stressed about things that we don’t think are going for us the way that we think that they should. We need to remember that God is in this for the long-term, and He knows exactly what He’s doing, even if we don’t understand.
Dear Lord,
You know we don’t always like to look too far ahead, especially as we grow older. As humans we are more concerned with “now.” As the old Amy Grant song says, “We’re caught up between the now and the not yet.” Help me to remember that You are in control of all things, even those I cannot change. Help me to keep my focus on You, and trust Your hand on my life. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.