Where do you put your trust? Do you only trust what you can see? Are you frustrated when you experience trouble? Do you have a short-term focus? Or, do you focus more on the long-term? Does your vision go beyond the here and now into eternity?
Most of us are focused on what is right in front of us. We have things to do and people to see. We have tasks at work, tasks at home, and tasks at church. We desire to do good for those less fortunate, and somehow, we fit that in, too. We juggle many priorities and tasks.
When we face a speed bump or a wall suddenly appears, we get frustrated. After all, we have all these things to get done. Perhaps we’ve lost our job and simply putting food on the table becomes a challenge. It could be we face a breakup of a relationship and we are lonely. We might face a death of a family member and wander how we will get along without them.
All our troubles in this world are temporary. That is easy to say and harder to remember when we experience troubles. Yet, if we can keep our focus on the eternal, remembering the trouble is temporary, we will get through it. How can we maintain our focus?
We need to prepare for troubles. Many of us will think about saving money for the rainy day. That can be a help, but it isn’t the only way to prepare. A significant part of our preparation needs to include building our relationship with God. Practicing relying on Him, even in good times, will help us maintain our focus on Him during bad times.
Think about it for just a minute. If you play on a baseball team, you don’t simply show up for the game. You put in a significant amount of time practicing the skills required to play at a high level. You keep telling yourself, “If we are going to win a championship, we have to keep practicing.” The same is true to face the troubles we see in this world.
Our spiritual practice must include prayer, reading God’s Word, and spending time with other Christians to strengthen our spiritual muscle. We must practice putting our focus on what is unseen in order to maintain that focus when the seen becomes chaotic. As we become stronger in the Spirit, we see more clearly the troubles of this world for what they are—temporary.
I pray we all spend time exercising our spiritual muscle. I pray we take time to pray, read God’s Word, and spend time with other Christians. I pray each one of us will commit to focus on the unseen—eternity with God. Maintain your focus on God. Spend time in prayer. Spend time reading God’s Word. Spend time with other Christians. Build a deeper relationship with God. Be prepared for the troubles that will come. Trust God to get you through this life.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Marty Pressey 