John 14 teaches us this: If we don’t see our stresses and struggles in the context of eternity, we aren’t really seeing them.
I mess this up all the time. I’ll look at something that’s bugging me, like just about every time someone does something differently than I would have done it. Or I’ll focus on something that’s hurting me or hurting people I love, like any of the countless injustices that we see every day, and I’ll think, I hate this and it needs to stop.
And in a sense, it does need to stop. Pain for pain’s sake is meaningless. And suffering will stop—if not now, then in eternity. It isn’t wrong to try to end suffering or stress.
But when we pay attention to only our present context, we’re not seeing the full picture God wants to show us. He’s got much more in store.
There are so many examples of this. A child is disciplined so he will grow into a well-adjusted young man. A skier punishes her body and mind in the summer and fall so she can win trophies in the winter. A child of God gives generously to their local church so they can develop a heart that trusts God and directs His resources to change the world.
When it comes to us, though, we forget those lessons all the time. It’s as if we believe that long-term context—and even eternal context—matter, except in our specific cases. Then it’s all about erasing our pain and solving suffering now.
But the Bible always invites us to take the long view. Taking the long view is what God does, and it’s what we’re called to do as well. One way I think we can preach good news to ourselves in this area is by looking back on our lives. For most of us, there is at least one moment of deep pain in our stories, and for most of us, life is better than it was at that moment. For some of us, life is a lot better. Remembering our worst moment often shows us how temporary it was.
Jesus can redeem even our most painful circumstances, things we have gone through that we will maybe never understand. For some of you, this sounds like I’m crazy. I confess I don’t know how God does it, but I know that He can. I’ve seen it.
I also know that in heaven, every tear will be wiped away from every eye (see Revelation 21:4). So even if you cannot fathom how God will take your tragedy and bring beauty out of it, now more than ever I want to encourage you to hope against hope and to keep taking that next step and moving forward, whatever it takes.
You absolutely know that you are gonna make it when you keep taking the next step. Life is a miraculous journey. And it doesn’t just happen to us. We need to keep on going, moving forward, no matter what.
For so many people, eternity can be hard to remember or even to see as real. But eternity isn’t just a concept or idea. Seeing our present struggles in the light of eternity means realizing that eternity is the realest thing that exists. It is real, right now, and will always be. Throughout the Bible, God talks about our lives being eternal. Everybody will live eternally, and Jesus will bring His own to His Father’s mansion.
That’s why we can’t afford to let our present fears shipwreck us. Getting eternity right is the most important thing. Listen to how Paul agonizes over this in Philippians 1:21-24:
To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.
Paul knows that faith is a matter of life and death. He’s torn. On the one hand, he longs to be with Jesus in his forever home. On the other hand, though, he’s walking with Jesus by faith as he lives, and he’s doing good work with and for his friends and his enemies. Either way—whether he lives or dies—he knows that he’ll experience God’s eternal, unending love.
The crazy part is that Paul is writing this while he’s in jail. And not just overnight. For years. So he’s not even sure where his next meal is coming from, let alone whether he’s going to make it out alive and be able to continue ministering.
Does that sound familiar? Maybe not in the exact details, but the uncertainty? The hopelessness hanging over your head?
There’s never a wrong time to remind ourselves of the good news of God. Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for us. Through the work of Christ on the cross, God has forgiven our sins and has prepared us for eternity by sharing the righteousness of Jesus with us.
But here’s the truth: The good news of God isn’t that we have to get everything right. The good news is that Jesus got everything right. And right now, Jesus is sharing that righteousness with us in a way that transforms us on earth and prepares us for heaven.
Like Paul, let’s live in such a way that we can say, “As long as I live, I’m living in light of God’s presence and love, and when I die, I know I’m going home.”
Talk about hope and grit! Our lives matter in the here and now. But in a way, they matter only because of their relation to eternity. Today, next week, next month, what we do is connected to an unending future.
Anyone who knows me will tell you I’m not big on math. I can count music notes, but that’s about it. However, even I can compare finite time to eternity and realize the difference. Our life on earth compared to the unending afterlife. Ten years or a hundred years on earth compared to being with Jesus in heaven forever. It’s like a drop of water compared to the ocean.
Excerpted from You’re Gonna Make It by Daniel Fusco. Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Fusco. All rights reserved. Published by WaterBrook. Used by permission.