Eternity
by Andrew Tissingh
So I turned 30 recently. Plenty has been said of course regarding this new season of life, the moving on into being older, and it seems there`s some kind of negativity surrounding the notion that you`re getting closer to 40 than you are to being a teenager. Are there elements of feeling sad about getting older? Yes.
But is it the age itself that brings negativity? What is it that actually gets us down about becoming old?
Upon reflection this last few weeks I think there are two things that often cause the sadness many people feel when getting older.
1. Regret. We have dreams growing up, expectations of how life is going to be, and a rough outline of where we want to go. We have goals we want to achieve. What happens when these aren`t met? We feel we`re failing, not achieving. We don`t meet the standards set by the world, or ourselves, and feel sorry we couldn`t make it.
2. There`s not enough time. In a world full of needing things in an instant we feel that if we don`t have it right now we never will. Time`s running out. We`re losing our youth.
Both these issues stem from the same core belief. We measure our lives in terms of earthly time. We`re bound to our physical presence on earth and can`t see God`s larger, eternal perspective. Leonard Ravenhill, an English revival preacher, prayed: “Oh Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs!” He knew that, as human beings, we`re so prone to seeing things from a worldly view and that we see our lives as a physical length of time limited to what we achieve and experience while on earth. The truth is that there`s an eternal perspective which is far greater.
If we could see our lives in relation to eternity in heaven wouldn`t we change the way we see `getting old`? We must change our perspective, so it lines up with God`s eternal purposes for us as individuals and as the body of Christ.
I`m happy, because I`m 30 years closer to meeting my heavenly father and spending eternity with Him.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You that You have a plan for my life here on earth. Thank You that You also have a larger eternal purpose for my life. I`m sorry for being too focused on earthly goals. Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs so I can walk with Your eternal purposes in view. Amen.
Andrew Tissingh grew up as a missionary kid in northern Africa. He moved to the UK in 2004, where he worked with London inner city youth for six years. He and his wife did the 9 week school at Ellel Grange in 2011, and stayed on to serve. Andrew has a heart to disciple young people, and in particular to see people’s lives changed by practically applying truth.
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