This week has been far from easy. I’ve felt a little too much like the picture in James 1 of being tossed and blown by the wind by doubt. I’ve felt the winds of life leave me knocked off my feet more times than I can count this week.
And if you’ve ever had an off week too, then you know this is pretty disheartening. It simply is harder to find joy and reflect Jesus in your actions when you let your circumstances get the best of you. I really started to think about it…
Why do I get so caught up in my circumstances? Why am I so quick to let a bad day carry over into a bad week and let the negativity pile on and consume me?
The root of it is a perspective problem.
I’m so easily affected by my mood and my circumstances, feeling on top of the world when it’s all going smoothly, only to crash to a low on days when earthly joy is scarce.
This is a problem. I should be relying on more than my present circumstances to be joyful and content.
Let’s look at Matthew 6:
“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” (Matthew 6:31-32 ESV)
Here Jesus reminds us that the things we worry about, the circumstances that to us seem dire and weighty, God has already considered and already provided for us the needs we have, needs God knows better than we know ourselves.
I want to pause here to be clear. I am in no way undermining the real and legitimate pain that this life brings. I know things are hard, and I don’t know what burdens and struggles and hurts you’re holding onto right now. It is definitely okay and necessary to process through pain and to grieve (my pastor recently preached on Romans 8:28 and talked about the importance of not using verses like these as band-aids). I only want to gently nudge you, and remind you that God is still here, and He still knows what you need today.
His next command found in the following verses is simple,
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to.”
This is where having the right perspective comes in. We are never at any point guaranteed a quick fix to the not-so-great parts of life. The bible mentions more hardship than it does earthly success.
So what does the bible promise?
Eternal life.
Hebrews 11:39-40
“And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”
2 Corinthians 4:17-18:
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
p.s. I wish I could’ve included all of 2 Corinthians 4 here and I urge you to go read the rest!
I could list so many other scriptures here. The bible is a story of a broken people pursued by a perfect God, but it doesn’t leave the ending blurry or something we have to read at the end to find. The bible points to eternity as the ultimate hope for followers of Christ over and over again.
Our ultimate hope can become our perspective.
It can and should be the thing we cling to. This isn’t easy by any means, I’m writing this because I’ve realized how bad I am at it sometimes, but having a mind and a perspective centered on something more than the stuff on this earth is the mind God wants us to have.
Because the things around you, the tests, the
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with
man . He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'”
I’m not trying to undermine in any way whatever is heavy on your heart right now. But I am showing you there’s something better out there, to gain a perspective centered on what God has promised is to come.