Skip to main content

In the End....


For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (II Corinthians 4:17)

          I talked to a friend this morning. She mentioned her concerns for her grandchildren and what they are going to face in this world during their lives. I don’t have any kids or grandkids, but as I look toward the next thirty or forty years, I can understand her concerns. It is easy for me to worry about living on my own and the specters of cancer and dementia that may be hiding just around the corner. As I wonder where I’m going to live and what I’m going to do, I know that some of the decisions I have made, and some that I am sure I will make may make life more difficult or even dangerous. 
          But what came out of my mouth was the reminder that they may have huge challenges. Life may be difficult, or worse for them, and for me, but then it will be over, and we will have the rest of eternity. I know, that sounds “pie in the sky, by and by.” It sounds dismissive of the struggles that they might go through, or that I might go through. How dare I treat it so cavalierly?
          First, because of passages like today’s verse that tells me that it’s true. Secondly, because I’ve lived some version of it. Oh, I know my life has been a walk in the park compared to many, but I have survived so far, and I have seen what some of my worries involve (that’s why they’re worries) and most of the time, they’ve led to death. It may be a hard road getting there, but death’s one of the finish lines toward which I’m walking, trudging, and sometimes crawling because after it, glory. 
          And today, at least, that’s freeing. What’s there to be afraid of? The hard things will be hard, and I hope I’ll face them as I’ve faced the hard things that I’ve already endured. But in the end, glory.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more