Toothaches and Used Cars

Saturday night my wife came down with a terrible toothache. She's had lots of problems with her teeth, but this one is one of the worst she's had. She couldn't go to church Sunday morning and then she wished she hadn't gone Sunday night. She didn't get much sleep last night because she couldn't get any relief from the pain. She goes to the dentist at 2:00 this afternoon.

Last night my second son, Justin, called, asking if I could come and jumpstart his car. Well, it wasn't his battery. I guess it's either his starter or the solenoid. For all I know about cars, it could be anything.

"When it rains, it pours," isn't that what they say?

At times like this, when life's troubles seem to be ganging up on us I try to think about the fact that this world is only temporary. Paul made a marvelous statement about these things:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

If we keep our focus on things tied to this world we will miss out on the things of the life to come. What a great loss! This world is full of trouble. Physical life is burdened with sickness, injury, and all other kinds of problems. But the Lord has promised us that there is more to our existence than what takes place between the time we're born and the time we die. When this life is over we can look forward to an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and does not fade away (1 Peter 1:3). The Lord has promised that death, pain, and sorrow will be removed in that home that waits for us in heaven (Revelation 21:4).

The more problems life throws our way, the more it makes us long to go home to heaven.