No matter what this life brings

Anticipation can either be good or bad.  This week we have been anticipating the weather, how bad will it be? Or that something bad will happen and we won’t be prepared.  So we prepare for what might happen or what could be the worst-case, but then we forget about the best-case scenario.

What is the best-case scenario for a snowy winter day? Cocoa, Popcorn, Movies, Blanket Forts, Snowball Fights, and Naps.  So what are we dwelling upon? How bad the snow will be or how good sitting by the fire cuddled up with the ones you love?

The struggle we have is that yes, things can be bad, but there is also good that can result from it.  Our perspective on any situation matters.  There are things that are temporary and then there are eternal things.

Temporary things that we know are temporary are like face paint, summer, or our life.  Yet at the same time, sometimes, we don’t want these things to end, we want them to last longer to enjoy them more.  This world and this life we live will come to an end and the eternal things will come, we see them in part now, but it will be revealed to us completely in time.

As followers of Christ we have anticipated what is to come.  We are taught in Colossians 3:

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

We have the promise of eternal life, and this is our best-case scenario.  No matter what life brings we have the promise of eternal life to give us hope.  A hope that challenges us to anticipate a life that goes beyond this one.  In this life we will have trouble, we will need to work, make hard decisions, and deal with our sin through repentance and forgiveness.  We may be citizens of heaven, but the snow won’t shovel itself.

Philippians 3 

20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

We have the promise of heaven, hope for the struggles of this world, and the opportunity to make the best of hard situations.  God is at work; the snow won’t last forever, and summer days will come, but even today let’s make the best of this life as we anticipate an eternal life with Him.