Breathe Again: A 7-Day PlanSample

I’ve been asked more times than I can count how I made it through the loss of a child without becoming bitter, broken, or stuck in pain. If I had only one answer to give, I would say nothing gave me more hope than having an eternal perspective. 

When I say eternal perspective, I mean viewing life through the lens of eternity. Have you ever worn sunglasses with colored lenses? Everything you see is washed in that color. That’s what I mean by seeing life through the lens of eternity. You view everything you face­—the good, the bad, and the ugly—washed in the hope of what is to come. Our life on earth, as important as it is, is just walking us to heaven. This is big-picture thinking.  

God planted the seed of eternity in our hearts. Every time the world disappoints us, that seed whispers that pain was never God’s design. It reminds us that He has good in store. 

Still, pain has a tendency to become opaque, an all-consuming focus we can’t see through. But an eternal perspective turns pain translucent. Something we look through rather than to. On the other side of pain, where there’s purpose - victory and redemption become visible. 

Because the enemy was defeated on the cross, all that is broken on this earth will ultimately be healed. Even if we don’t see it on this side of eternity, may we be like Abraham, who looked through pain to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. It’s the only place worthy of our heart’s fixation. Everything else pales in comparison and will ensnare us in the disappointment of this world. 

Today put on your eternal perspective by focusing on the promise of Heaven.