2009: The Year of Many Changes

By Rita Langeland

Keeping Our Eyes Fixed Upon The One Who Never Changes

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NASB)

2009 will be a year of many changes. By the end of this year many things in your life and in the world will not be as you know them today. But for the believer who can walk by faith, it is not a time for fear. Instead it is an exciting time that will result in great testimonies of the faithfulness of God that will be a sign and a wonder to unbelievers.

There will be times during 2009 that many people will experience “momentary light affliction” mentioned in the passage in 2 Corinthians printed above. That word “affliction” from the original Greek word means “pressure, distress, persecution or tribulation.” Certainly even now “pressures” are being experienced by people all around us. But the scripture gives us the key for dealing with those situations. It tells us that we are not to focus on the things which are seen with the natural eyes because those things are “temporal”. That word temporal means transitory, temporary or passing. Instead we are instructed to keep our eyes fixed upon “unseen” things - those things which the world cannot observe with human eyes. Those are the eternal things - God’s love, faithfulness, power, mercy, grace and His promises - those eternal things are unchangeable. Though everything and everyone around us may change in 2009, God and all the promises in His Word will never change.

If you can keep this perspective, then whatever comes your way in 2009 will not shake you. Remember that everything in the world and the world system is temporary, it will pass away. This applies to all the good things in the world including a nice house, a good car, a steady job, career success or money in the bank. That is why we are never to hold tightly to things in this world - use them wisely and be thankful for them but don’t make them your security or your identity. People who don’t trust God but instead trust in their material possessions or wealth as their security will be deeply shaken in the coming days. This was dramatically illustrated recently when a German billionaire threw himself in front of a train because of financial reversals in his business. That was a tragedy but demonstrates the truth of how fragile things in this world are and how foolish it is to put your hope in them.

On the other hand, bad things in this world are temporary as well. If you are going through some difficulties in life whether it involves health, finances, family or career, these things too will pass away. We have to guard ourselves against being focused upon or consumed with temporary difficulties. As believers we can’t hold tightly to or keep our eyes fixed on anything that is temporal – GOOD OR BAD!

There are three huge gates that lead into the Cathedral of Milan in Italy. Over one gate there is an inscription in marble under a beautiful flower bouquet that says, “The things that please us are temporary.” Over the second gate, there is a cross with this inscription: “The things that disturb us are temporary.” However, over the central gate, there is a big inscription saying, “Eternal things are the important ones.”

The pressure of coming world events will reveal if your focus and heart is invested in temporal or eternal things. Because in these coming days whatever can be shaken will be shaken! (Hebrews 12:25-29) But the person who sees with eyes of faith will not be moved. Faith enables a person to make a right judgment of circumstances and to see beyond the temporal and view the eternal in every situation! Paul the apostle was a great example of a person who kept an eternal perspective in the midst of some very challenging temporal circumstances. He described the difficulties he was facing in Acts 20:22-24 and summed it up by saying “...but none of these things move me.” God wants you to be able to say in the coming days, “None of these things move me.” And you will be able to do so in the midst of tremendous changes going on in the world and in your own life if you will keep your focus and your trust centered upon the One who never changes!

Jer.17:7-8: Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought, Nor cease to yield fruit.

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