Life can certainly be overwhelming at times.
Now and then I will find myself completely inundated with requirements for my time and attention that far exceed my capacity. Sometimes they can even exceed the capacity of multiple people. So I do what we all do, eat the elephant one bite at a time. I take it hour by hour or even minute by minute if required.
As effective as this strategy may be, it can’t be our long-term approach. For when we are only focused on the next hour, life increasingly leans toward uncertainty and we resultantly shrink our once grandiose aspirations. If I can’t plan beyond the next hour, I certainly can’t chart an effective life strategy for the next ten years.
But such is not the approach and perspective of the the eternal. And no greater reminder of the eternal exists than that of the horizon. It is infinitnely expansive and wholly unreachable. It is at the horizon that all returns to its proper place and significance. The earth levels out and the grandness of the sky is on full display. Once insurmountable mountains fade into mere blips the further we zoom out.
“Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.”
The lie we can’t help but fall for is that if we accomplish enough tasks, achieve enough success, or simply complete that next milestone we will achieve peace. Unfortunately, as we have all experienced first hand, this isn’t the case. There will always be another task or title looming just beyond our immediate reach that entices us to continue to strive toward it. Our only hope is to recognize the lie and reset.
Thus we must find peace here and now, in the midst of the struggle. For it is perspective, not perseverance, that yields true peace. And we must continually return things to their proper perspective if we are to have any hope of realigning ourselves. For only when life is observed from the proper perspective can we make truly informed decisions and gain lasting serenity.