Manage the Temporary (a 30A vacation pre-read)

My family and I really enjoy 30A. I mean, if you grew up in the deep South, there is a high probability that you visited this beach annually. It has changed, as Janis Joplin said, they have paved paradise. No more the quaint beach towns we knew, but we are still drawn to the water. Year after year. Our kids would have it no other way.

So, as we pack our cars to leave 30A and the beach this morning, temporary is the word that comes to mind. With the other thousands of cars, we will jump on highway 98 waving to all the excited people coming to the beach. This process will continue with droves of people all summer. Each family or group of friends is in and out. Temporary.

All in life is temporary. Vacations, houses, money, jobs, days, weeks, months, years, sickness, health, all is temporary. The most permanent thing on earth is marriage and family. These are gifts to be cherished. As Solomon pondered the temporary in Ecclesiastes, he called all “vanity.” After much depressive writing, Solomon sums up life by saying that the best we can do is “fear God and keep His commandments.”

So how does one overcome the depressing, temporal view? Perhaps this is the main mental hurdle that we must overcome in life. The meaningless view. After all, if everything is going away or passing by in a short time, where is the joy? Or, when dealing with pain, how do you endure? Some short swing thoughts.

• All temporary things have an eternal purpose. How discouraging and gloomy to view all things in life as temporary, done in a short time. There is an eternal purpose in the temporary. Discover the eternal purpose within the temporary. Look for it.

• View the temporary for what they are – opportunities to learn or gifts to cherish. Today is temporary. The breakfast with the family, the conversation in the car, these moments are all gifts. Cherish them.

• Trust God with the temporary. The temporary happens for a reason. He is sovereign, the God of eternity and the God of the temporary. Trust His purpose.

• Make sure that passion surrounding temporal issues starts with God at the foundation. Often, passion begins with the temporary in mind and walks back to God, tries to be connected to Him. Let the passion for the temporary flow from the river of the Gospel.

• Don’t cling to the temporary. As the disciples marveled at the buildings and stones, Jesus told them that they were all temporary, they would go away. The temporary is a brief moment in time. Why grip it tight? Recognize the brevity with eternity in mind.

• An eternal view eases pain. Pain will happen on the journey. Meet it with an eternal view in mind. Learn and teach.

Jesus is described a lot of different ways in the Bible and a lot of different ways in culture. In culture, Jesus may be defined as fanatical, a teacher, a rule giver, an unnecessary thought. However, deep thinking of temporary things requires one to come face-to-face with Christ. Because, if He is who the Bible claims He is, the answer to the temporary is solved. The Bible describes Him as the Anchor, the Light, the One that grants eternal life. The temporary suddenly has eternal purpose through Him. Without Christ, there is no purpose for temporary things.

As we walk the journey, passing all the temporary l things of the world, it is worth pondering Christ through the reading of the Bible. Otherwise, as Solomon said and I agree, “all is vanity.” God made the answer simple.

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