baby Jesus

Billion Year Perspective

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“A whole human life is just a heartbeat here in Heaven” (from What Dreams May Come).

I heard someone comment recently about having a billion year perspective and the more I think about it, the more I like it and the more it makes sense.

The billion year perspective chooses to look at everything that happens in life through the lens of eternity. Even a billion years is barely a dot on the timeline in view of eternity, much less the 80-90 years most of us get in this lifetime.

It’s much easier to get your priorities realigned when you realize that much of what you obsess and fret over currently won’t matter even the tiniest little bit in the grand scheme.

It makes the bad stretches easier. When you realize that while you may not like where you are in life, it won’t last forever, it changes how you handle it. You’re more inclined to be able to bear up under adversity than to buckle underneath it.

It makes it easier to pray for your enemies and for those who persecute you (even for those evil nasty Trumps or Clintons, depending on your political persuasion). You can forgive easier once you know that the pain is light and momentary compared to that eternal weight of glory that’s coming.

As the dreaded Monday approaches, it’s helpful to keep that billion year perspective in mind and realize that even the worst days still only last 24 hours and nothing you go through is unendurable if you keep eternity and God’s love in mind. If you bear in mind that God still works all things together for good, then you can make it though anything.

 

 

Just Call Me Joe

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

Tonight at Kairos, Mike Glenn talked about Joseph. Not the one with the coat of many colors. The other one. You know. The one standing next to Mary in your nativity scene? That one.

Basically, most of us don’t know what to do with Joseph in our nativity scenes. He should be near Mary, watching over her and the baby Jesus. But what was his role that night?

Joseph was the one Mary handed her baby to on that night. Joseph was the one who named the child Jesus. Joseph would most likely have been the one who taught the growing Jesus a love for Scripture. Joseph was the one who raised Jesus who “kept increasing in wisdom and stature,  and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).

Jesus was 100% God, sure enough. But He was also 100% man and the Bible says that He wasn’t born fully grown and knowing everything. He grew and learned the way any human would.

When it comes to the story of Christmas, Mary gets most of the attention. Well, Jesus, then Mary. Then probably the shepherds and the wise men. Joseph doesn’t get much recognition.

But sometimes when God calls us to do the work that nobody notices, that can be the most sacred calling of all. Sometimes, the most faithful men and women of God are the ones nobody knows about who labor faithfully for years without awards or platitudes but with the ultimate reward of heaven’s applause. They’re the ones behind the scenes not in front the camera or front and center on the stage.

If you feel like no one sees what you do for God, God does. If you feel like what you do makes no difference, remember that even the smallest act of kindness done in the name of Christ can make all the difference in the world.

Just ask Joseph.