“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4
When you live in the light of eternity, you don’t get discouraged as easily by trouble. You don’t give up because you know that what is coming is the best gift you’ve ever been given. These challenges and sufferings of our today’s are, after all, quite small and won’t last very long. Yet this short time span of distress will result in God’s richest blessing upon us forever and ever! So, we do not look at what we can see right now, the challenges all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have heard and read about, but we have not yet seen.
I don’t know what painful challenge you’re going through right now, but I can tell you three things about it. One, it’s not going to last. Even if it lasts your entire lifetime, it’s still not going to last forever. Second, whether or not you caused the problem you’re going through right now, God will still use it for good in your life. It will even build your character if you’ll surrender it to Him. And third, you’re going to be rewarded for your suffering for Christ in eternity forever. Just endured a hurricane, finished you last chemo treatment or ducked under a flurry of bullets from a gang of unbelievers?
When you arrive in heaven, you’ll be in awe of being in the presence of Jesus. But if you weren’t so overwhelmed by Christ’s presence, your first thought would probably be something like; “What was I thinking? Why did I spend so much time fretting about that challenge, worried about the doctor assessment of my health or trying to impress people on this side of Heaven? Trying to be popular? Trying to pile up a bunch of money in this fallen world? I had no time to serve God, no time to give, no time to share, no time for relationships, no time for what matters most. I was doing all the seemingly right things in this fallen planet. But why didn’t I make more time for what mattered most?
So much of what we do; even some of the good things, is not going to last. We need to realize that every second of our life has eternal implications. Every single moment. Every decision. Every thought. Every action. Every word. Every attitude. Every feeling. Every kindness. Every sin.
In the 40 Days of a Purpose Driven Life book Pastor Rick Warren encouraged the reader living on this side of Heaven to constantly be asking ourselves questions like; “Will this last? Does it deserve my money? Does it deserve my time? Does it deserve my reputation?” And most importantly, we need to ask; “Does it make a difference for God’s forever kingdom?”
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay