The choices we make affect the people around us. They inform our experiences and shape our character. Sometimes the far-reaching effects of our decisions do not reveal themselves until much later, and sometimes not at all.
It can be wearisome. Life is a puzzle we do not have the answer to – only God does. Our choices can affect things but they cannot solve everything. Mysteries abound. The struggle continues.
Paul encourages us here that the glory of eternity outweighs our momentary struggles and confusion. If we stay steadfast, continue to make wise decisions, and focus on what we can steward (letting go of what we can’t), God will reward us with relationship and perspective.
If we try to train our perspective on “figuring out” the world and solving all of its issues, we will grow steadily weary. If we fix our eyes on Christ, we align ourselves with the deepest truth possible. And doing so actually aids our efforts to try to make the world a better place.
In the end, God is in control and we are not. Submitting to this reality allows us to make the best choices possible today and every day.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
– 2 Corinthians 4:16-18