Zachary Elliott
Special to Valley News
My wife bought a photo scanner so she could convert our printed family photos into files to keep on the computer. She has now cataloged thousands of family photos according to year and event. I have to admit, it’s pretty cool.
Although every time I walked into the room where she had all the pictures sorted, I immediately got nostalgic. Seeing the pictures of my children when they were younger and the times when I didn’t have a belly or gray hair, remembering a special event in our lives and seeing how time has flown by made me a bit sad.
Part of me wants to go back and experience all those beautiful times again. Of course, only the good times. But then I remember, I can’t go back. I can only go forward.
The same goes for you. No matter how good or bad your past is, there’s no going back. You can only go forward from here, and that’s exactly how God intended it.
What you need to understand is that the changes you experience now, whether good or bad, are only intended for the moment. But they are achieving for us something that far outweighs them all, something eternal.
That’s why 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 said, “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 verse teaches three action steps on how to move forward.
Don’t lose heart.
If your heart fails, you fail. Keep your heart in the fight and take one step at a time. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Ask the Holy Spirit to renew you.
He is the energy drink of Christianity. If you’re down in the dumps, pray David’s prayer when he said, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me,” in Psalm 51:12.
Fix your eyes on eternity.
As sad as it sounds, everything in your life is temporary, except your relationship with Jesus. God’s goal for you is to spend eternity with Him in heaven. There is no more excellent outcome for your life than that. That’s the prize.
As you face the changes of time, some of them being good and some bad, don’t lose sight of the big picture as you move forward. Jesus is the big picture, and in light of eternity, nothing else matters.
Zachary Elliott is the lead pastor of Fusion Christian Church in Temecula. For more information, visit https://www.fusionchristianchurch.com, https://fourminutefaithbuilder.com or find them on Instagram.
