FOREVER
During a recent family outing, my wife, Michelle, had to stop by Walmart to pick up a few items. Shopping is not really my thing, so I eagerly waited in the car with our kids. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and the parking lot was full. Promising she didn’t have much to buy, Michelle assured that she would be quick. For the first several minutes, everything was fine; the kids were talking and laughing in the backseat while I listened to music and thought about nothing in particular.
As expected, it wasn’t terribly long before the first frustrated cry of, “What’s taking Mom so long?” erupted from the backseat. This complaint was soon followed by, “Where’s Mom?” A few minutes passed before the predictable exaggeration came: “Mom’s taking forever!”
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately… Not sitting in a car with impatient kids, but about the word forever. It’s one of those words we think we understand. But as finite beings, we can’t really comprehend that magnitude of forever. Interestingly, forever appears many times in the Bible, particularly in the Psalms. The list is too long to include all of them in this article, but here are a few examples:
Psalm 9:5 “You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.”
Psalm 9:7 “But the LORD sits enthroned forever.”
Psalm 10:16 “The LORD is king forever and ever.”
Psalm 22:26 “The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!”
Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Psalm 28:9 “Be their shepherd and carry them forever.”
Psalm 29:10 “The LORD sits enthroned as king forever.”
Psalm 30:12 “O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!”
Although we are cognitively limited and unable to fully grasp forever, we understand that it is a really, really long time. Definitely a lot longer than the time my wife spent shopping in Walmart on that gorgeous June Saturday (albeit, it was a long time). As time-bound creatures, we find the concept of forever difficult to explain. I love how Puritan writer Stephen Charnock expresses his understanding of eternity in The Existence and Attributes of God. Charnock writes, “Time began with the foundation of the world; but God being before time, could have no beginning in time. Before the beginning of the creation, and the beginning of time, there could be nothing but eternity; nothing but what was uncreated, that is, nothing but what was without beginning. To be in time is to have a beginning; to be before all time is never to have a beginning, but always to be” (p. 187). God is the Creator of the world. By His power all creatures of the world and time itself were spoken into existence. God alone stands outside of time’s limitations. He pre-existed before time, and He is the only being capable of creating life and time.
As finite creatures, there was a time when we did not exist. Humanity, along with the angels, had a beginning. God is the only infinite one. Unlike us, He has no beginning and no end. In Psalm 90:2, Moses writes, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” As the everlasting God, He maintains all power and control over creation. Those who know Christ as Savior find great comfort in knowing that God is a perpetual refuge and source of security to His people. As our eternal resting place, He never grows weary. From everlasting to everlasting, He is our God. He is in want of nothing; He has nothing to gain and loses nothing. James 1:17 reminds us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” There is great reassurance in knowing that God’s essence, purpose, and nature will always remain the same. From everlasting to everlasting, there is no variation with God. Nothing can eclipse Him, outwit Him, overpower Him, or force change upon Him. He is forever our glorious unchanging Creator.
Eternity is the duration of God’s glorious existence. With no beginning or end, God is set apart from creation. No other being has or ever will exist from everlasting to everlasting. Unlike God, humankind is nothing but a drop of life given by the Creator’s almighty hand. As we swim in the ocean of God’s magnificent infinity, we must never forget that even the strongest person is nothing but a speck of sand churning in the turbulent waves of time. We are here for only a moment in time. Waiting in a car for twenty minutes may feel like forever, but compared to eternity, it’s as undetectable as the microscopic organisms crawling on your computer screen.
Being time-bound creatures helps us understand David’s plea in Psalm 13:1. David cries, “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Suffering and agony have a way of slowing down time, leaving us distraught and impatient. When we consider the world from the perspective of eternity, however, we can say along with Paul, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). Trials never feel brief, but even a lifetime of pain and suffering is momentary when compared to an everlasting eternity.
As Christians, we know that we will live forever with the Lord in the age to come. None of us, however, know when we will begin our eternity with God. For now, we are called to follow Christ in this temporal age. Living in the fallen here-and-now can cause us to lose sight of eternity. That is why it is important to consider how we should live this side of forever and ever. Undoubtedly, there are many answers to this assertion. But for the moment, let’s consider three ways we should live in this temporal age in light of eternity.
First, we must remember the brevity of life on this earth: with each passing minute, a small part of our lives is cut off. With each breath we take, we are another breath closer to our last. Life is short. We are, according to James, nothing but a mist. Like the steam evaporating from the hot pavement following a summer rain, our time on this earth is brief. What monstrous pride we display when we believe ourselves to be anything but fragile flesh and blood. Our lives rest in the hands of the Creator, and there is nothing we can do to recapture a single whiff of time lost. In Psalm 39:5, David declares, “Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!” A puff of air. That’s all we are. Here today. Gone tomorrow. In light of eternity, we must cherish each day the good and gracious Lord gives us.
Second, we must not allow pride to control our hearts. For those with hardened hearts, and a disposition toward indifference, anger, bitterness, and rebellion, you must humbly surrender your arrogance to Christ. Proverbs 16:5 warns, “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” Rather than facing God’s chastisement for your unrepentant pride, ask the Lord to soften your heart. Ask Him to forgive your sin and to replace your arrogance with a spirit of humility. Choose each day to wear the fruit of the Spirit as an ornament of obedience to God and His word. Allow the truths of Scripture to open your heart and reveal the secret sins buried deep inside. Pray that the Lord will humble your pride and that your stubbornness will be turned to sweet obedience. Permit your eyes to spill a fountain of contrite tears as you mourn your transgressions. Mortify the works of the flesh and relentlessly pursue righteousness. In light of eternity, dress yourself in the beautiful clothes of humble obedience.
Third, choose to invest and enjoy the time the Lord gives you in this life. None of us can predict the future. While the events of tomorrow are a mystery, we know every day is filled with challenges, uncertainty, and opportunity. Focusing on the challenges will inevitably bog us down in apprehension and discouragement. If we allow uncertainty to dominate our hearts, we will quickly be consumed with fear and anxiety. But when our attention shifts to the opportunities each day brings, we are stirred to action. Investing time, talent, and other resources into eternal matters rejuvenates the weary soul and brings joy to the downcast heart. There is great joy in serving the Lord. In Psalm 104:31 we read, “May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works.” For all of eternity, the Lord will rejoice in his wondrous works. For those who personally know Christ, Psalm 104:31 provides great encouragement because we know that we will be right there rejoicing with him! In light of eternity, invest your time, talent, and resources into joyfully serving your Savior.
Forever. It’s a very long time. The word is easy to spell and say, but difficult to understand. While we are unable to fully grasp all the ramifications of forever, knowing we will have an eternity with our Lord and Savior makes forever sound like a glorious future. How foolish we are to set out hearts upon that which will perish. Living with eternity in mind protects us from foolish decisions, guards our minds from temporal distractions, and encourages us to focus all of our undivided attention upon the One who will remain from everlasting to everlasting.