How Brief the Here and Now

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

I remember a time in the past that I was struggling with a five‑week bout with bronchitis. It’s amazing how impatient I can be when a minor illness interrupts my schedule. A three‑day cold is bearable, but anything longer than a week and I’m groaning about the pains of life. It’s during such times I begin to reflect on individuals I know who have debilitating, chronic health problems that plague them not for weeks or months but years. I classify myself as a wimp once I remember their countenance and patience with what God’s providence had allowed to take place in their life. I am humbled by how they deal with disease and discomfort in our fallen world.

 

During my ordeal with bronchitis is seemed like time slowed to a snail’s pace as I strove to recuperate. I’m sure, as with most brief illnesses that as soon as I’m well for about a month or more, I will hardly remember the throat discomfort I endured. It seems to be that way with the good and bad in life. When we’re in the midst of troubles we can’t see how it will ever end. Then when we’re well we remember that in the grand scheme of things the illness was a wink in time. When we’re experiencing a vacation or good times we think it will last forever only to be brought back to reality as we drive or fly home. We become somewhat sad or depressed because what seemed like everlasting entertainment vaporized in a short week or two. I wonder if we can learn something from this observation when we view the eternal life we live as servants of our Lord.

 

I’m 70 now and assuming I live to be 90 as my mother has, that would equal a little over 788,940 hours. My five‑week illness calculates to be only 840 hours of my life. That’s about .001% of my life as a whole. Such a short slice of my life seemed like eternity at the time, but when I consider the rest of my life it’s just a pinch as they say in the cooking world. Can this give us a perspective how short and precious our life is here on earth. Take my 70 years of life and compare it to how many there are in eternity. Is there even a number, which can define the quantity of eternity? If you see where I am going with this you will see that what we see as a long life is only a fraction of existence we will experience as believers in the presence of our Lord.

 

The song Amazing Grace has a verse, which reflects this perspective. Verse four begins with, “When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise, Then when we first begun,”

 

“We’ve no less days to sing His praise then when we’ve first begun.” Do you understand what those words imply? When we first begin to sing praises to our Lord and Savior the first day we are in Heaven we have no less days on that day than any other to sing praises to Him. We will never run out of days to worship our Lord. Our life and experiences will have no end. Eternity is just that, ETERNITY! There is no ending to the time that we will experience the presence of our Savior and the love of God. I wonder once we reach heaven, if we will look back on the short time we were on this earth and regret what little we did in the short time we were there?

 

From our perspective living to the ripe old age of 75 or 85 seems rather significant and extended, but not if you’re celebrating your 75th birthday. When I was a teenager I couldn’t imagine ever reaching the age of 50, now I’ve past that mark. James 4:14 tells us how fleeting our life is when it says, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Why this visual analogy, because it’s accurate. Have you ever sprayed air freshener in a room? Have you watched the fragrant mist as it floats in the air? Eventually it evaporates or falls to the ground. Possibly it lasted for a few seconds. The only thing that lingers longer than the mist is the wonderful smell, but even that dissipates in a few minutes. In a way of speaking the mist of the air freshener is our life and the fragrance that remains is the memory of our lives in the minds of others. James is attempting to give us a reality check. God spoke through Him in scripture to let us know that the time we value here is brief compared to the eternity available to us. So what does this communicate to us about the time we have here on earth?

 

I believe the answer can be found in another verse, which addresses the issue of time‑well‑spent. Luke 12:33‑34 says the following, “Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” This passage comes right after the parable of the rich man who planned to build bigger barns to store the grain he desired to horde. Unfortunately he would not live to see the barns built or the benefits of his stockpile. What Jesus is telling us in this instruction is that life is short and material investment is unwise when taken to excess. Our concern should be more for the eternal storehouse in heaven rather than the temporary storehouses we can construct in this short time we have on earth. Our hearts should be motivated by heavenly pursuits rather than short‑lived earthly endeavors.

 

I wonder if you and I will look back from heaven on the life we lived on earth and wish we could return to say, “Yes” to that ministry opportunity, to say, “Yes” to discipling that person who needed help, to say, “Yes” to serving in the local church fellowship to which we belonged. I wonder if we will look back on this current period of testing and struggle, of opportunity for spiritual growth, of chance to grow in Christ and wish we had spent our time more productively. Now is our time to practice on earth what we will live and breath for eternity in heaven. The foundation we lay here in this temporary life will prepare us for the experiences we have yet to face in our life with our Lord in heaven.

 

2 Peter 3:13

“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”