Keeping Your Life in Perspective
By Jeff Cranston
Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese mariner and explorer. He was the first European navigator to round the southern tip of Africa in 1488. In the tumultuous ocean waters south of Africa, as he rounded the cape, his ship threatened to break into pieces. Making it through safely, he named that place the Cape of Storms.
But another Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, who came just a few years later on that same route, changed the name to the Cape of Good Hope, for he saw ahead of him the jewels and treasures of India.
You can call this a life of storms if you wish. But if you can see the glorious redemption of eternity ahead of you, you can call it what it is only in Christ—a life of good hope.
In the Book of 2 Timothy, Paul is nearing the finish line; his race is almost over. He’s been through the ups and downs of leadership as a pastor and church planter. He’s met Jesus Himself on the road to Damascus, and now, the curtain is beginning to drop.
In all likelihood a month or so after this letter to Timothy was penned, Paul was executed. But he knows that he’s run a good race and is quietly confident that his life will leave a legacy for others to follow. He’s confident that even his death will have meaning. Where does this confidence come from? He knows what is on the other side. He is confident that God not only knows all, He sees all. And Paul knows there is a victory crown awaiting him for a race well run. It’s the same crown every Christ-follower will receive, reserved for all those who “have loved His appearing.”
And in his final words, Paul says to young Timothy—and to you and me today—let me show you how to view your life. Let me show you how to gain and keep the proper perspective. Let me show you where to place your heart and your thoughts as you take stock of the life you are living. Read 2 Timothy 4:6-8.
Look around at what’s happening now.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. – 2 Timothy 4:6
When Paul talks about being “poured out as a drink offering,” he is letting us know that he views—and we are to view—life as an act of worship.
Life is an act of worship. When Paul says, “poured out,” he is referencing an incident in the life of Jacob: “Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. – Genesis 35:14
Jacob, immediately after an encounter with God, poured out a drink offering on a stone pillar to mark the spot where God spoke to him. In the Book of Numbers, a drink offering of wine was poured out in the sanctuary as an offering to God (Numbers 15 and 28). Paul sees his impending death as an offering to God. Life is an act of worship.
Life has a departure date. Paul said that his time of departure had come. Your life is going somewhere. You have a purpose. God has created you with purpose in mind. There are things He has called you to and is calling you to.
Life is an amalgamation of divergent seasons. If you grab ahold of God’s perspective for your life, if you walk out your life with His perspective in mind, you’ll begin to see that each season of life has a unique purpose all its own.
You may be going through a season right now that is anything but beautiful. All you may be able to see is ugliness everywhere. Your finances look ugly. Your health looks ugly. Your marriage looks ugly. Your career looks ugly. You’ve got a friendship that’s turned ugly. You’re not looking so good yourself, and what you think of your future—let’s not even go there!
But look around at what’s happening now. God can make something good out of it as you trust Him and see things from an eternal perspective. Then Paul reminds us to …
Look back to what happened then.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith … ” – 2 Timothy 4:7
In this verse, Paul looks back over his life and sums it up. In doing so, he reminds us that …
Life has its battles. “I have fought the good fight …” Those words carry the heart of Paul in them. Life is a battle, but remember to keep a proper perspective, for …
Life has its challenges. When Paul says that he finished “the course,” he refers to the running of a race, metaphorically meaning the fulfillment of a career, occupation or military service. And there are always challenges in life, aren’t there? Do you live with that perspective in your life right now? But also remember that …
Life has its satisfactions. When Paul says that he “kept the faith,” he may be saying, “I’ve kept the rules: I played the game correctly.” And he would go to his death knowing he had never broken the rules of honor and honesty in the race of life.
I think what Paul is saying here is that through good times and bad, in times when he was free and in times in which he was imprisoned, he never lost his perfect confidence and trust in Jesus. And that perspective brings its unique satisfaction to life.
Look back on your life. What do you see? Can you trace God’s hand guiding you and directing your steps? When you can, it helps you maintain perspective, doesn’t it? Because often the best predictor for what God may do in your future is to look back and see His faithfulness in your past.
Look ahead to what will happen.
“ … in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” – 2 Timothy 4:8
In this verse, we learn that every believer will be rewarded with a crown. Paul would soon stand trial before a Roman judge, and it would have only one outcome: his earthly death. Yet he also knew what God’s verdict would be when he stood before the greater judgment seat of Christ.
When your life is dedicated wholly to Jesus Christ you are indifferent to the verdict of anyone else. Let those here on earth say about us what they will, as long as we hear our Master’s voice say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).
Realize that you are engaged in a spiritual battle. Stand strong. Maybe your battle has been ongoing for quite a while; perhaps you’re just entering the fray. Ask God for eyes to see and ears to hear; ask God for His perspective on your life and circumstances.
You may feel right now that plans have been thwarted, dreams have been annihilated, and relationships ruptured. But that’s when we must stand on His Word and claim the promise that “no weapon formed against me shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17).
Walk in the truth that our God is Master and Commander. He is the Captain of the Armies of Heaven. He fights for us even while we fight. He goes before us in battle. Don’t ever lose that perspective!
Recognize that your cause is noble. There is no greater cause in the universe that you and I can be engaged in than the cause of Jesus Christ. It’s all for Him. Don’t ever lose that perspective!
Resolve to finish the course God has given you to run and fulfill the purpose to which He has called you. There is not one of us who is called to be an apostle like Paul was, yet each one of us can lay hold of the same victorious crown that Paul won.
Do you look forward with a strong affection to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ? Are you living in obedience to His will and His ways? Are you trusting in Christ alone for your salvation? Are you doing the work He has called you to do? Then the Bible says that one day when you stand before Him, you will be crowned in righteousness. Don’t ever lose that perspective!
Relish the treasured time God has given you. For many years, Bronnie Ware worked in palliative care. She often spent the last few weeks or months with people who had gone home to die. She wrote a blog post one day about it and titled it, “Regrets of the Dying.”[1] It went viral and was later turned into a book called, “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.” It became an international best-seller.
When she would talk to people who were soon to die, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the five most common:
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you look around to what is happening so that you might gain and maintain the right perspective every day. Relish the time that the good Lord gives you. Use it for His glory. Leave this world with no reserve, no retreat and no regrets.
Jeff Cranston is the lead pastor of LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, South Carolina.
[1] Accessed 03 August 2021. https://bronnieware.com/blog/regrets-of-the-dying/
