Eternal Perspective

I can't tell you the number of times I've talked to people who, in the face of difficulties, begin to question the sovereignty and goodness of God. If they hang onto the first, they can't grasp why a loving God would allow them to suffer. If they cling to the second, they may start to question God's involvement in the day-to-day happenings in our world.

Isaiah 55:9 reminds us that our Heavenly Father's ways and thoughts are higher than ours. So it stands to reason that we can't possibly understand fully why certain events happen in our lives. God allows trials to fall into every one's lives--both believers and non-believers (Matthew 5:45)--so doing good does not insulate us from trials. We can also cause difficulty in our lives by being disobedient to God's will and harboring known sin in our lives.

James 1:2-4 provides us with some eternal perspective: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meets trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Often times, the Lord has a purpose and plan for what he allows to come into our lives and his plan for us is not to harm us, but to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

Reading the book of Philippians, we see that even though he was imprisoned, Paul could see how God was accomplishing great things through his difficulty. Likewise, we must strive to never allow the circumstances in our lives to cause us to doubt the sovereignty and goodness of our Heavenly Father; who allowed his own Son to pay our sin debt on the cross. Eternal perspective points us to this glorious promise: For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17).