Work is frustrating. People get sick. The car breaks down. Relationships are difficult. Kids act up. People we love reject Jesus. We have dark days. Many more things could be added to this list, but this is often the reality of our earthly experience.
Too often we deal with sadness and disappointment by telling ourselves things will get better. We comfort ourselves and those around us in the face of struggles by saying things like “I’m sure it will get easier”, “tomorrow will be better”, or “the right thing is just around the corner”.
I’m not saying it’s wrong to have a positive outlook – I do believe that looking for the rays of sunshine helps us to face many difficulties. But the problem with this kind of response is that it is not based on God’s truth as revealed in the Bible. This is empty, earthly philosophy and we should call it out.
The Bible does not promise a pain-free life on this earth. If we put our faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation, we are not suddenly exempt from difficulties of various kinds. We need to have a right perspective if we are to trust the Lord in the face of life’s disappointments. We should encourage one another in our troubles, but we can do so with better words of truth that offer lasting comfort.
God does have a plan for you. He knows every hair on your head. And his plans are for your ultimate good – that is, to make you more and more like Jesus himself. So recognise what God has promised you. Don’t put your hope in things that are not guaranteed – this is only setting yourself up for further disappointment.
As children of God, we have a hope that is better than the ‘wishful thinking’ kind of hope. Let’s not confuse the two. Our real future hope is so certain – I was reminded before Christmas of the way the Bible often talks about these things of the future in the past tense, so certain are they of reaching their fulfilment. We’re trusting in our Father as we wait for promise to become reality, not biting our nails wondering if Jesus will come through. He already has.
God’s word promises a wonderful eternity if we trust him. Isaiah 9 states there will be “no more gloom” because of the coming of God’s chosen one. One of my favourite passages in Revelation 21 looks ahead to the new heaven and new earth, promising us there will be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away”.
And St Paul writes of the assurance of our future resurrection in 2 Corinthians 4: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 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.”
This is where we need to fix our eyes. It is often hard. Sometimes my earthly situations just seem so all-consuming that I barely have the energy to focus on anything else. But we are told that these things are light and momentary when compared to our wonderful future hope.
I said to a friend recently that God is in the business of making beautiful things out of the mess. We see glimpses of this in our lives, and we thank God for them. Relationships restored. Desperate situations turned around. People being brought from spiritual death to spiritual life.
Our difficult situations don’t always last a lifetime, but they don’t always magically disappear. God does not promise to take it all away while we live on this earth. But he is at work in you now, and we can be assured that all pain will be removed in that glorious future. So be encouraged today, and recognise what God has promised you.
