Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. Habakkuk 1:12
I have a vivid memory from a childhood vacation during which we were at the beach when the wind came up and blew my beach ball out across the water. I burst into tears as I knew that ball was gone forever. We were on a tiny lake though, so my mother simply ran around to the other side, picked up my ball, and returned it to me. Could I have seen the bigger picture, I would’ve realized the foolishness of my angst. It’s silly now of course, but in the moment, my loss was all-consuming.
Perspective is a common struggle for us. I want to be healthy tomorrow, but right now, I want junk food. I want to be obedient to God someday, but right now, I want to live for me. We struggle with looking past the present moment. We believe in eternity, but we’re consumed by now. Why would you allow me to go through this pain God? Don’t you care about me? This isn’t fair!
Habakkuk, in today’s passage, reveals the perspective that we must continually strive for if we want to make sense of faith. Faith is living for a greater reality even though we can’t see it now. Faith requires a perspective that looks past present discomfort to believe that God is working for something better . . . even if that something better isn’t in this life. Frankly, that’s hard.
Habakkuk says though, that when we’re consumed with the present, it’s as if we’re at the beach, mourning the loss of the beach ball. God is forever. As we are made in his image, we too, are forever. Though it is natural for us to be consumed by now, this isn’t all there is. The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).
God uses trials today to make us better tomorrow. Even so, not all wrongs are righted in this life. To truly believe that all things work together for good for those who love God (Romans 8:28), we must believe in forever. God has us, my beach ball, and eternity in his hands.