A Christmas Carol: W3 - THU
Living with a holy perspective Romans 8:18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.
2 Corinthians 4:16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 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! 18 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.
I Peter 1:6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.
There is a beauty in knowing the end of your story, especially when it’s a good ending. It means that whatever you’re going through now, however tough and difficult and potentially weighing you down and stealing your hope; whatever it is, knowing the ending of your story can help you know that what you’re going through now is not forever.
Oh, it may feel like forever. It may feel like things will never change. You’ll never get your head above water financially; never get out of debt, never stop living paycheck to paycheck. But that’s not the end of your story. That’s not your forever.
It may feel like your body will never feel whole again, the pain will never subside. But it will. One day we’ll all be made new.
It may feel like the hole in your heart from the loss of your loved one will never go away, and in a way you’re right. You will journey with that loss on this side of heaven, but the day is coming when death will be no more. The day is coming when resurrection happens, restoration happens.
Because you know the end, then you have to remind yourself and others of these things when life is weighing down on you and your circumstances seem rotten. The life we experience now is temporary; here today and gone tomorrow. The life to come? Eternal. Our lives now do cause us pain, but that pain won’t last. I know it doesn’t feel that way when you’re in the midst of it, but the writers of Scripture above wrote those things to help us remember; to remember our real story.
I call this way of living, living with a holy perspective where the story I see with my eyes isn’t all there is. There is a bigger story, a better story, and I’m living into that story now. Holding onto that truth gives me hope even in the darkest of times.
You know that in a dark room, no matter how big and how dark, it only takes one little match to begin pushing back the darkness. So let the truth of today’s Scripture be your light. May you be reminded of the temporary nature of the world we live in now. And may we know beyond a shadow of a doubt what our future holds thanks to that glorious day Jesus Christ came into our world.
2 Corinthians 4:16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 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! 18 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.
I Peter 1:6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.
There is a beauty in knowing the end of your story, especially when it’s a good ending. It means that whatever you’re going through now, however tough and difficult and potentially weighing you down and stealing your hope; whatever it is, knowing the ending of your story can help you know that what you’re going through now is not forever.
Oh, it may feel like forever. It may feel like things will never change. You’ll never get your head above water financially; never get out of debt, never stop living paycheck to paycheck. But that’s not the end of your story. That’s not your forever.
It may feel like your body will never feel whole again, the pain will never subside. But it will. One day we’ll all be made new.
It may feel like the hole in your heart from the loss of your loved one will never go away, and in a way you’re right. You will journey with that loss on this side of heaven, but the day is coming when death will be no more. The day is coming when resurrection happens, restoration happens.
Because you know the end, then you have to remind yourself and others of these things when life is weighing down on you and your circumstances seem rotten. The life we experience now is temporary; here today and gone tomorrow. The life to come? Eternal. Our lives now do cause us pain, but that pain won’t last. I know it doesn’t feel that way when you’re in the midst of it, but the writers of Scripture above wrote those things to help us remember; to remember our real story.
I call this way of living, living with a holy perspective where the story I see with my eyes isn’t all there is. There is a bigger story, a better story, and I’m living into that story now. Holding onto that truth gives me hope even in the darkest of times.
You know that in a dark room, no matter how big and how dark, it only takes one little match to begin pushing back the darkness. So let the truth of today’s Scripture be your light. May you be reminded of the temporary nature of the world we live in now. And may we know beyond a shadow of a doubt what our future holds thanks to that glorious day Jesus Christ came into our world.
- What is one thing right now you look forward to being done with in the new world?
- What are some ways you can remind yourself of this holy perspective on a daily basis?
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