Isaiah 40:31

Isaiah 40:31 "But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The Big Picture

Do you remember high school?  It was a memorable blip in life.  But it was truly just a blip on the screen.  We spend 4 out of around 80 years in high school.  That is a whopping 5% of our life (give or take).  Kids in high school think it is all there is, many think that everything that matters happens in those years.  They often have trouble looking at the long years that take place after high school.  They often do not see the big picture.  They may see forward to college or beginning their career, but it is a misty distant – beyond that stretches the unknown.   I think we all have ‘the now syndrome’ to some extent, we see where our lives are right now, but we have a larger picture to see and the wisdom to know that the now is just a small part of life. 
Well, I want to broaden that picture.  Think of your 4 years of high school, it was memorable and significant, but it was only 5% of our life.  Are there things you would change or do differently as you look back to high school or college?  Do you laugh at what you thought was important?  Do you know with the wisdom of age that the stuff you thought to be life-changingly significant in high school is now simply amusing?
 That’s where we are now.  Our life here on earth can be compared to high school.  Our life on earth is merely a blip in the big picture of eternity.  Less than a 5% blip!   Infinitesimal actually.  So, what is the important detail we should focus on in this infinitesimal blip?  God!  Our salvation, our future eternity!  That way there will be a time to sit in heaven and look back and laugh at all the stuff we thought was so incredibly important here on earth.  Laughing in our newfound wisdom of time that nothing was really that important, nothing but serving the Lord.  Nothing but accepting Christ, repenting of our sin, and receiving the grace of God and our ticket into heaven!  There is the big decision we make while here, that is the decision that will guide our lives here and in eternity.  In high school there are some decisions that will change our futures outside of school.  What we major in in college, whether to abstain from sex and drugs or to let them into our life, whether to fail or to pass…  There is also a major decision that we make in our time here on earth – whether we will serve God, or serve ourselves.  Whether we will worry about our eternity or our now.  Take the peace God offers, take the joy of the life he has given us, and don’t sweat the small stuff.  Put things in perspective of what is small when you consider your eternity.  Does it matter if I make or buy a cake for my son’s birthday?  Only for about 5 minutes.  There is a scripture that I read last night that helped me put some things in perspective.   Luke 10:38-42 – specifically verses 41 and 42.  In those verses Jesus said “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details.  There is only one thing worth being concerned about.  Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (NLT)  Listen to that again, put your name in place of Martha’s, picture in your mind Jesus extending his hand out to you and saying:
“My dear __________, you are worried and upset over all these details. 
There is only one thing worth being concerned about…”


Take Jesus’ hand.  Accept his peace.  Live for him and know that your eternity will be sweet.