Quiet Time: Choose the Long View

Choose the Long View
Read Hebrews 11:23-29

choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin – Hebrews 11:25

Our local power company used to own a rust colored rickety old eye-sore of a power-plant near the city. We half jokingly said that it was held together by duct tape and water-bond (a type of epoxy for patching holes in pipes). The long view of the plant was that it would eventually be removed and replaced by a newer more efficient one; so, there was a lot of patching going on. Sometimes the patches would fail and very costly emergency repairs became necessary.

Like water-bond, we sometimes try to relieve personal pains with quick fix solutions that only compound the issues, not because we have a long view of how life will be, but because we simply want relief for the moment. If we’re not careful, this can lead to a deep melancholy called depression.

Now, don’t freak out. The fact is that everyone deals with depression.

No, really, from time to time, we all struggle with the symptoms of depression due to external circumstances like the death of a loved one or a prolonged illness. Sometimes we get depressed in a very sneaky way through repressed anger. The good news is that most of us work through it eventually overcoming the gloomy funk. However, there are times that we choose short term fixes (alcohol, drugs, or extramarital affairs) to life’s pains, effectively compounding the problem and prolonging the misery. Point in fact, Doctors Minirth and Meier say, “A common precipitating cause of depression in many Christians is a wrong perspective.” We live as if all that is, is all there is; and, that’s just foolish.

Moses is a good example of a great life perspective. Although, he was at a point in his career where everything was coming together; he turned his back on all that this world had to offer (riches, extravagance, and power). The scripture says that he actually chose pain over passing pleasures because he had a long view that caused him to want God’s best for his life and the life of his people. Now, this isn’t to say that Moses didn’t suffer from a melancholy spirit at times. Just read about his leading the children of Israel through the desert and you’ll see that he was fully human and struggled mightily.

Perhaps we need to guard against “short-range perspectives that lead to short-range behavior patterns” [MM] since they only increase the potential for more pain and distress.

Here’s my long term perspective:
I want to walk where I am as if I’m where I’ll be; face to face with Jesus.