Needed This Reminder

Our preacher at church gave a great sermon last weekend that I really needed to hear. It  wasn't anything that didn't know, but sometimes you just need a reminder!

I've been in a funk since the holidays have been over. The gray, dreary, cold weather doesn't help at ALL, and I've just felt tired, unmotivated, and just a little down in the dumps. It's really always been common for me to feel this way during January and February, but having grief on top of the usual feelings and emotions just compounds it now. 

But anyway, the sermon last Sunday was about living in light of Heaven. It's a mindset I've always had, but truthfully, the last few years have obviously just been such a struggle that I feel like I've somewhat lost sight of it. I've let myself become consumed and caught up in all the things of this life. But it truly makes SUCH a differece in your mindset and how you live your life when you are living for eternity, not just the temporary things of this world.

Here are some notes I took during the sermon:

-Heaven is what we as Christians are wating for, what gives us hope, what keeps us hanging on.

-When we are focused on eternity, we don't get caught up in the things of this world

-Death is no longer scary when we have the hope of Heaven

-We can be open and honest about our brokenness-and we are ALL broken in some way-because we know that one day we will be made whole.

-When we don't live with the hope of Heaven, we will panic in this life when we don't get what we want or what we think we "deserve" out of life. 

-Without the hope of Heaven, we try to squeeze all that we can out of this life because we think that we'll "miss out" or not get the things we are striving for.

-When we live in light of Heaven and put our HOPE in our ETERNAL life, we are not easily panicked or stirred up because we know that in light of eternity, so many of the things we stress about on this Earth really don't matter in the end!

This was definitely a mindset shift that I needed to be reminded of-especially because my life is not as "easy" as it was when Matt was here. It's not so hard to keep that eternal perspective when life is going well and you don't really have any major stressors. It's a little harder now with working more, supporting myself, and just being in a relationship with someone with kids and an ex and all that fun stuff. It's easy to get caught up in the day to day stress and anxiety.

At the same time, since Matt died I've been all about "living life to the fullest" and doing allll the things...which is not bad per say, BUT I also have to remember that this life is not all there is. It's good to enjoy each day as a gift and blessing from God-have fun, travel, make memories...but it's not all this life is about-it's not the only thing we're living for. We have a whole eternity ahead of us that will be better than we could EVER imagine! We don't have to worry about "missing out" or travelling the world, or completing everything on our bucket list, when we know we have an eternity of true joy and peace that awaits us! 

"Scripture repeatedly makes clear that heaven is a realm of unsurpassed joy, unfading glory, undiminished bliss, unlimited delights, and unending pleasures. Nothing about it can possibly be boring or humdrum. It will be a perfect existence. We will have unbroken fellowship with all heaven’s inhabitants. Life there will be devoid of any sorrows, cares, tear, fears, or pain." -John MacArthur