Life presents no shortage of challenges. Physical injuries, mental health issues, and emotional distress can make the best of us wonder why we even bother to get up some days. The circumstances of life leave no doubt we live in a fallen world. For those of us who profess Jesus as Lord, there is a meaning to this madness.
There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and a purpose for our pain. It borders on the cliché to say, but this world is not our home (Hebrews 13:14). We are here for only a little while, and then we will at last find rest in our final destination. If we can hold on to that truth, we will see this life is more than worth the struggle.
Living with our final destination in mind is the key to enduring the hardships of life. None of this will matter in the end (Ecclesiastes 1:2). It’s impossible to wrap our finite minds around the length of eternity (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Even when pain seems like it will never stop, we know it will somehow, someday, end. Everything in life has a beginning and an end. That’s what makes eternity so difficult to grasp, because it has neither. Putting any of our lives on the timeline of eternity would be a point so small we could never see it with the naked eye. My point is the reality of our pain is that it is only a brief moment when compared to our eternal peace (2 Corinthians 4:17).
A clever song lyric that has been my constant companion for the past twenty-five years is, “Everything is temporary if you give it enough time.” That’s true for our struggles and pain. It’s true for everything in this life because we know all things in this world are fading away (1 John 2:17). Nothing lasts except the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is what saves us from the pain of this life (Romans 5:1-2; Titus 3:5). It is that fact we must remember if we hope to endure the mess Satan throws at us every day.
I’m convinced to live with our final destination in mind is the key to enduring trials in this life. Nothing that happens to us down here can affect our security in Christ. If we go broke in this life, we still have the riches of Heaven awaiting us (Matthew 6:19-21). If we are sick or weak, perfect healing will be ours in the presence of Jesus (Revelation 21:4). And if life deals us an endless hand of loneliness and discouragement, we know when we get home, we will never be alone (Psalm 23:4; John 14:18).
It’s all a matter of perspective. If we concern ourselves with comfort and achievements in this world, life is going to be hard because no one ever wins that game. All of us die in the end and everything we fought so hard to gain in this life will be gone in an instant (Luke 12:18-21). To live for the glory of the world is a fool’s errand. But to live to know and glorify God results in the ultimate victory (1 Corinthians 10:31). We will reach our final destination knowing we fought the good fight and finished our race (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Eternity with our beautiful and glorious Savior will be our reward (Romans 6:23). Don’t lose heart. Remember your final destination.