Each of us struggle on a daily basis with our problems. We are buffeted from all sides by troubles and heartache. We might have lost our job, our loved one, our health, our possessions, maybe everything! In this way we get caught in a rut, and we struggle to get out. Our circumstances get the better of us. We are irritable, angry; we don’t have time for the people that really matter in our lives, all because we cannot get our attention away from our difficulties.
Most importantly however, our relationship with God suffers! The reason is that we cannot look up to Him anymore, because we are blinded by our own troubles! We lose our perspective on eternity! Leonard Ravenhill, one of the great preachers of our time, once said: ““Oh, I wish that eternity could have been stamped on my eyeballs!” What did he mean by this? He simply meant that, if that were possible, we would be looking at eternity every moment of our lives, and thus not stare at our problems all day. We would be looking at our problems through eternity-tinted glasses!
What is eternity really?
How do we understand it? The answer is, we can’t. We can only hope on it! We can however, get some sort of perspective on it.
Think of it this way, if you start on the equator, and with a ballpoint pen, you draw a line on earth, following the equator, all around the globe, until you get back to the starting point, and the two ends meet. You now have a line without beginning, and without end. See this as representing eternity. Now, if you should make a little dot anywhere on this line, using a fine liner, this dot would then represent our lives on earth, but……. this dot’s size in relation to the whole line, would be infinitely bigger than our earthly existence would be compared to eternity!
How do we keep our eyes on eternity then in spite of our daily burdens?
Because it is my vocation, I like to use the picture of a truck driver. Imagine yourself sitting up there in that big cab like me. The cab represents Jesus. (Jesus in me and me in Him) From my lofty position I can look down at the other traffic rushing about. (the secular world) I’m on my way to a specific destination. When the weather is fine, I’ll open the window to let in the sunshine and the breeze. If it gets too hot, I simply close the window and start the air-conditioner. If I encounter rain, hail, even snow, I crank up the heat to be nice and cosy, all the while still on my journey. None of these things can touch me in my safe cocoon of a cab. All of this represents our daily problems and struggles.
Do they have any influence on my journey?
Of course. I have to slow down, drive more careful, I might arrive later than planned. I might encounter road-closures and detours, but they will be clearly marked for me to follow so that I will meet up with my intended route again.
Do these things deter me from reaching my destination?
No! This is how I view life. It doesn’t matter what life throws at me, as long as my salvation isn’t affected, (and if one is really born again, it CAN’T be affected) it simply doesn’t matter! Whether I fall sick, lose my job, end up in jail, or whatever, it simply doesn’t matter anymore!
This is what Paul meant when he said in Philippians “…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” This is how believers worldwide are able to withstand persecution, and still stay true to Christ!
Keep your eyes focussed on eternity, on the finishing line!
I invite you all tonight, come, get into Jesus’s cab, and enjoy the journey!
Amen!
Shalom
Savedbygrace
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