Looking Heavenward
Are you slugging through another day? Do you ever feel that you are on a perpetual treadmill – expending lots of effort, but not moving forward?
As I sit here on my couch this weekend I ponder where my week went. How do the days just seem to disappear into one another?
While I am happily busy doing the teaching work that God has called me to, I don’t like how one day seems to run into the next. I feel like I haven’t had time to breathe, let alone do something fun for myself.
It was no different when my children were young and I was at home. Diapers and runny noses, spats and falls, messes and silly antics, all were part of the deal. Frequently I said to myself – “If I can just make it to…” then I will be okay.
My friend, are you living your life just to get to the next marker (the weekend, when my children are grown, when I have a better job)?
When we focus on just getting by or just getting through particular situations, we do not have the full rich life that God intends for us. God knows and understands the struggles we face daily. He gets that life here on earth is not easy. He does give us a way above all these earthly stresses.
Frequently we cannot change our situation, but we can change our mindset. We can focus on the massive to do list or the job/task that causes us challenges. We can live our lives, moving from day to day with no particular direction. Yet, that is not what is the best for our well-being.
Throughout history, God’s people have faced massive challenges. How do we move forward in times such as these and change our mindset?
In Isaiah chapter 35 speaks to God’s people who have been in exile. The theme of this chapter is the joy of the redeemed.
How can there be joy when these people have suffered so greatly? Take a look at the final verse of this chapter:
“They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (Isaiah 35:10 NIV)
This joy is possible only by looking heavenward. The Israelites learned then, as we do now, that the suffering on this earth pales in comparison to the joy of heaven. We can move forward in faith and hope because we know that God has made a way for us to enjoy eternal life with Him.
An important point made in this verse is that when we let gladness and joy take hold, the tough things will flee. We can be joyful, even when our circumstances are tough, because joy is a mindset. Happiness is fleeting, but true joy – the joy that comes from the knowledge of Jesus’ saving work on the cross for us – cannot be taken from us.
We have a choice to make. Do we stumble through our days just barely managing? Do we walk around with a huge load on our shoulders? Or do we give our burdens to Christ, who bears them for us and gives us joy and hope?
Look heavenward. We have hope because God holds our future.
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