One of the hardest things about life on earth (for a believer) is that it is not our true home. We are called to lives of delayed gratification. What we see does not satisfy. What we yearn for is the whisper of a promise.
This is hard. We want everything NOW! We want our rewards in full. We are tired of waiting.
But the promises of Eternity are not meant to be limitations. They are meant to set us free. After all, in the greater scheme of things, our time on this planet is just a blip in the radar. We are sojourners/strangers/visitors in this land. Home is on the horizon.
God’s design is not that we receive our reward in full in this life. But neither is it that we waste this life. Our decisions here have an Eternal impact. The brevity of this life is a call to action, not an excuse for complacency. Our full reward is later; the experience of promises fulfilled (in a final sort of way) comes on the other side of death. When we welcome these truths “from a distance”, it paradoxically brings us closer to them, showing us glimpses of what is to come (and allowing us to be content with that).
While we are here, like the great heroes of Christianity, we are called to be witnesses, to live a life of faith. To put ourselves in alignment with our eternal journey and use this life as an amazing and unique opportunity to serve, love, explore, and share the Kingdom of God.