Time In Perspective

Being made eternal ... we know that we struggle together for but one day in all time to bear the molding of His hand ... only to wake on the dawn of the next realizing the fruit of His promise ... being joyfully reunited and resting forever in the loving perfection of His grace and mercy ...

It's only for a moment ... the closest thing I can relate it to is a fleeting second or maybe the flicker of a flame on a burning candle - these years we live here on this earth compared to the eternal life we were created for. Death has no place in our lives as children of the living God. We were created as eternal beings to forever live out the reward of our free choice. At the moment we call death in this life, we merely come to slumber for a moment in His grace while we wait for the rest of our brothers and sisters to assemble before His throne - resting peacefully with the secured promise of awakening at the moment He chose in advance, and known only to Him, to begin the real life that He truly created us for.

In our God's time and perspective, we struggle for a fleeting moment to make a choice and to regain resemblance to His image by His grace and His hand - one that He can relate to. The image of the future that this world holds is as terminal and frail as the vessels we now walk this earth in. But for us, the promise of the same God that created us speaks to a future without end. It's a future shared in His close presence and ruled by His Spirit. It's a future without pain or disease of body or spirit and a future that we'll share only with those who walk in His grace and share His spirit.

There will be no more deception, no more lies and no more selfishness. Hidden agendas, unrighteous anger, fear, intimidation and evil intent will be nonexistent in the future of His promise. The ugly face of evil will be forever banished to its own reward and we'll no longer struggle with the things of this life. In the awesome glory of His presence, I strongly doubt that we'll even remember them.

If we believe the word of our Father God, then we have no reason to lament the moments of this life. Because we believe Him, we know by His word that His intention is always for our good. So we can rejoice in the molding and shaping of His hand in the moments of this life knowing that His efforts are to prosper us for eternity. His perfect love being that of the all-knowing, wise Father, it has the patience and forbearance to suffer tenderly with us now as He teaches us how to live in His presence. The promised reward of our future making any sacrifice in this moment too pale to compare.

So what can we endure in His tender care in this moment of life-before-life that is too great and what momentary and fleeting sacrifice is too much to offer in return for the life of His promise? Is our perspective as limited as the perspective of the flesh that now holds us? Or is it as eternal as our spirit God created our spirits to be? Are our priorities today limited to the calendar of our mortal bodies or to the limitless perspective of eternity, planning now for the life of our future?

It's only a brief moment that we must be patient to suffer joyfully with solid expectation of what our eternal future has in store ...