A Christian is one who when he thinks of the past thinks of the grace of which he has partaken. When he thinks of the future, he thinks of the sharing in the glory that is to be revealed. The whole of our life is bounded by these.
~J. C. Mann
When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.
~ Jesus, King of The Universe, speaking with His Papa in John 17
Oh beloved, it is true. Eternity is pressing in on us. We are hemmed in by the very goodness of the very G_dhead. Doubts want to take us away from this. Everything wants to take us out of the moment – now – where belief intersects with forever.
There is a reality to this battle. It really does feel to us like we could get knocked off of the path. But, as is usually true, feelings are not the best indicator of reality.
People disrespect us
Failures are real to us
Friends ignore us
Doubts crop up in us
Students disdain us
Family members abandon us
Circumstance stresses us
Time keeps trying to get us onto its line
All of this hurts. It really does. The ache of this world is not fake. The fatigue of battle is real. And the stumbles we take along the path really do cause injuries. But this is not the point. No matter how hard the liar tries to lie, a lie is always a lie.
Nothing overcomes the power of Christ to do G_d’s will. All of this pushes us forward in the call He has on our life. We ride the tsunami of Grace. Even the faceplants and wipeouts on the wave cannot push us off the backside. It is just too big.
Then it gets better.
We are not just being pushed toward some sort of blind destiny or over a cliff of nothingness. The overpressure of forever both reaches out to grab us and pushes us down, just as we would rise up and panic.
We look behind and realize that there is absolutely no way we would have gotten to this place without Him. And we realize that there is no way to get where we are going without Him either.
We look ahead and see a little bit more clearly each day, just how hopeful our lives are becoming. The doubts scream, but we realize more and more that this is now coming from things that had nothing to do with what got us to this place, and will have even less of a reality in the future.
Can we see it? We are in the cradle of His hand. We are underneath the shadow of His wings. We now dwell within the strong tower of His goodness. And we are committed in a relationship with One who does not change and cannot lie. And, things will only be getting better from here.
So, are you hurting? Are you tired? Are you doubting? All is well. The feelings are real. Don’t deny them. But don’t miss the overarching reality of the situation either. G_d is both behind you and before you. Everything He is, is at work to keep you moving forward and motivated to finish.
Tonight is your night beloved. Time to see just how far He has brought you, and to really begin to see where you are going.
