The Lens of Eternity

Psalm 30 verse 5 says, “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” The idea of pain in the night, but joy in the morning is something I have always related to in my life. We all know the feeling of being up late in your bed at night, thoughts racing, questioning, “God why me? Why am I like this? Why Don’t you just fix this?” And in the morning, as we rest and recover from the attacks on our mind, there is joy.

On September 15th, 2018, at 3am I sat, drunk in the bed of my dorm: alone. My friends had thrown me a wild party for my birthday, and as I made my way back home, my friend left, and the guy I was talking to left.  I had a moment of realization with God where I knew that even though I thought I had done everything right for this perfect night, I was intentionally living in the pain of not being enough and not being who I was made to be. In that moment, I got a glimpse into what could be the pain of an eternity in sin.

This night, although a mess, was the single most redemptive moment  I’ve ever had with God. In the shame of sin, I began raising my hands to God and singing praises to Him. The presence of the Lord that fell on me in that moment was sobering, and from then on I have never been the same as before. God shifted my perspective to begin seeing life through the lens of eternity, instead of just my physical eyes.

Not everyone has a moment like this in their life, where God physically has to break you down in order for you to change your ways. And you could really say that this moment was the conclusion of a bunch of much smaller moments that God showed me conviction through His unfailing love for me.

Sin isn’t always lying, cheating and murdering; more times than not it’s pride and insecurity that lead us to act in a way that does not align with God’s perfect vision. 2 Corinthians 5:16-18 says, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ ”. When God reconciled us with Him through Jesus, He opened our eyes to see from a viewpoint of His plans and not of the world.

Romans 6:2-3 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?"

By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” When you live in sin temporarily it might seem fun or cool; but when you live in sin as a lifestyle, you understand that without God not only life but death can be a nightmare. Just because we are forgiven, it is not an excuse to keep on sinning. God forgives our sins because He wants to know us intimately. Sin cannot be in His presence. So, we become without blemish so that we have the ability to dwell with God who is perfect. When we become a new creation, we throw off the temptation to live in sin, because our longing to know God is greater.

Our lives right now give us a chance to shift from heading quickly towards an eternity of damnation, to an eternity that is a gift. When we set our eyes on things above we are living for the kingdom of Heaven now.

Colossians 3:1-4 says,  “Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your  life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

This verse from Colossians 3 is a call to us as believers to shift our perspectives, and a reminder of why we do so. Though everyone gets here differently, we are all called to set our hearts on things above, where Christ is seated. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God in Heaven, for eternity. When we appear with Christ in glory, in God, we are not going to be doing so only for the remainder of our time here on earth, but for eternity, in which we will dwell with God.
If you’re anything like me, you are impatient, and eternity feels like so far away. It’s in the moments where I get consumed in the “right here, right now” culture that I can look back on verses like these and redirect my heart and mind to recognize the importance of everything that Jesus has given me.

This week I invite you to pray with me, these simple prayers.

1. Pray that if He has not already, God would shift your perspective to see through the lens of eternity. 
2. Pray that you would be free from temptation to live a lifestyle of sin that is celebrated by our modern culture. 
3. Pray that God would give you sweet visions of Heaven here on earth as you begin to fix your eyes on things above. 

Author  |  Olivia Ellis