Eternal Perspective

Ten Minutes in Light of Forever

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

“When God gave me a revelation of forever,
of eternity, everything changed.”

After sending this message to a group of friends, I sat back and thanked God, for perhaps the thousandth time, for giving me a revelation of forever, for helping me grasp eternity. That moment of thankfulness led to a conversation about the difference between understanding and revelation.

You can have both.

We gain understanding in many ways— through study, through logic and reason… We gain understanding of God’s Word through spending time with it, meditating on it, digging into it, leaning on the Holy Spirit as our teacher…

Revelation is something different: It comes directly from God, and it bypasses the requirement for understanding. Where understanding acquaints you with truth, revelation confronts you with it.

One day at church camp I was in chapel listening to the minister and came to that moment. I’d heard enough about salvation that I knew the basics, but I didn’t really understand it. Nonetheless, in an instant the conviction settled in my soul.

Without a doubt, I knew I needed to be saved so I stepped into the aisle. It wasn’t an emotional thing; it was more a logical reaction to sudden knowledge. I didn’t even comprehend the magnitude of my decision until I saw my camp counselor crying.

Much later, I came to the realization that what I’d experienced was revelation knowledge. It was communication straight from God that convinced me of my need for salvation. I didn’t have to understand it. I didn’t even have to feel anything. I simply knew the truth, acted on the truth, and my life changed in an instant. There have been several times in my walk with God that He has given me such revelation and changed things instantly.

There have also been at least two times I specifically asked God for revelation on things I was desperate to comprehend. The first was the Rapture of the Church. Witnessing was hard for me and I felt that if I could just grasp the truth of the Rapture, and the reality of people missing it, I would be more driven to witness.

After a time, God gave me that revelation. And after the revelation, as I studied, I also gained understanding.

The same happened with forever. I’d had my blog “Eternally Planted” for years. The title is based off part of Ecclesiastes 3:11 in the NLT: “…He has planted eternity in the human heart…” Eternity is planted inside us even if we fail to recognize it. I think that’s why so many believe in reincarnation—because man has an instinctive knowledge that this life isn’t everything.

When I named my blog what I did, I had some understanding of forever, but at some point I realized I needed revelation. So I asked God for it. It didn’t come instantly, but one day God dropped it into my spirit in a way that lit up my world—and it changed everything about the way I saw my life.

I’d been married to my narcissistic husband for decades and was now responsible for keeping him alive and healthy, or as healthy as I could when he seemed intent on destroying his body. Every day was a struggle and my stress level stayed dangerously high. So this wasn’t a theoretical lesson. It came in the middle of a very real, very heavy season.

But then there was that day. In an instant, I suddenly had it. I knew in my innermost being that this life is nothing compared to the life I will have in eternity. That very hour, I told God that, if I had to live the rest of my life as I had been, it was ok. Because in light of eternity, this life is only ten minutes—and I can do anything for ten minutes.

Life didn’t get easier, but my focused changed. I was no longer looking at what was directly in front of me, but at what is waiting down the road. When you suddenly see a broad, beautiful vista ahead, walking becomes less frustrating and more of a challenge you’re willing to face.

We need understanding, obviously. But we also need revelation, and the beautiful thing is that God is ready and willing to give it. For me, it normally comes after He’s highlighted something I’m reading in the Word, after I’ve taken time to meditate on it, mull it over, and spend time talking to Him about it as I grow increasingly hungry for answers.

And sometimes I just ask.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Redeem the Time

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

Copyright Jordan Benton (on pexels.com)

This was not a normal Sunday.

There was already a lot going on in my head when service began, and this was one of those days I had to force my rabbit-trail-loving brain to focus only on worshipping God. Some people assume I’m different in some way, that everything comes easy for me. But the fact is I’m like anyone else, and too often it takes a conscious mental effort to shut down the bombarding thoughts that try to derail my worship.

For the record, I won this morning and worship was great.

Then I sat down and realized I had a staff notification on my phone.

One of our young moms passed away this morning. There was no warning, no indication that anything was wrong, at least not as far as I know. Her family is very active in the church. She and her husband have led one of our groups for years – a group that is headed out to a concert tonight. Well, I assume at least most of them will still go, though with heavy hearts.

Her daughter gets married soon.

My heart breaks for her husband, kids, soon-to-be son-in-law, his family, and the youth kids who love her daughters – our whole church, actually. But those kids…there were some seriously red-eyed teens walking out the doors after service.

This threw me. Some people might think that as a church secretary I’ve seen enough church members pass that it would eventually get easier. Nope. It doesn’t. This is my family and I love them.

Mind you, I’m THRILLED for her! She is quite literally exactly where she’s been heading ever since the day she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. It’s everyone else…all those who love her. Thinking about everything left me so befuddled I couldn’t even discuss it with God on the drive home, or not cogently.

She was so young, only in her 50s. No one expects anything like this.

You don’t. Do you?

I think if she could send one last message, it would likely be a warning to redeem the time: Accept Jesus as Lord and Savior if you haven’t. Grow even more deeply in love with Him if you have. And tell everyone you can that Jesus is the only One who saves, because any one of us could be standing in front of Him before another day passes.

Literally, you just never know. Redeem the time.

Celebrating Jesus,
Tammy C

Seeing Beyond the Now: Finding Strength in God’s Promise of Eternity

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

When a baby wants to be fed, he wants it NOW.

When a toddler races for a toy, obstacles that delay him frustrate him.

When a child is put in time out, a moment can feel like a month.

But children grow, and so does their concept of time. While “next year” seems impossibly far away, “tomorrow” eventually becomes acceptable, and then “next week,” “next month,” etc.

As adults, we can excitedly anticipate a vacation six months from now while understanding that we have things to do in the meantime. Depending on what those things are, we may walk through the days so busy that suddenly we look up to see that The Day has arrived. On the other hand, when life is in the process of throwing everything and the kitchen sink at us, we may be back to feeling like the clock has slowed and every moment is a month. Either way, we know that a special day is approaching, and the promise of tomorrow’s vacation empowers us to take each day as it comes.

Second Corinthians 4:17-18 reminds us that this life, even if it’s a life filled with trials and heartache, is nothing compared to eternity. First Peter 1:6 assures us that those “momentary trials” are helping us become the people of faith we are called to be. The more we’re in the Word, meditating on verses like these, and the more we are in fellowship with Him, the greater we understand this truth. Like the growing child who develops an increasingly accurate time sense, so do we who are children of God, as we grow spiritually, develop an increasingly accurate eternal time sense. It is this that makes life bearable even during the bad days (weeks, months, years…).

I explained in my Surviving Narcissism series that this one revelation was what made the difference in my ability to stay with and care for my disabled, narcissistic husband. I realized one day that, when compared to the eternity in which I’ll live, my life here isn’t even ten minutes. While thinking about it like that, I decided I can do anything for ten minutes.

And that’s what I told God. It went something like, “I can do anything for ten minutes, so if You want me here with him until the day I die, I can do it. With You helping me, I can.” If you know my story, you are aware that I outlived him, but with a true revelation of eternity I was able to say those words and mean what I said. Bible teacher TeDese Ross expresses it beautifully:

Hope for the future gives us strength for the present.

So, if you’re living in a world where a moment seems like a month, where hope is hard to come by, I advise you to turn to God and ask Him to give you that same revelation, to help you fully grasp the fact that while your problems and trials seem endless, they – and this life – really are “but for a moment.”

One revelation can change everything!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C