Eternal Perspective

MIKYHLA DICE • FEBRUARY 3, 2025

Have you ever heard the phrase “eternal perspective?" I don’t think it gets enough credit or acknowledgement in the busyness of our lives.

When we can see every aspect of our life through the lens of eternal perspective, it changes everything. Trials and hard places? They are temporary, and when viewed and experienced correctly, cause growth within us and within the Kingdom. Relationships, when the Lord is the head, are beautiful adventures with your best friend, working towards eternity. Mistakes, struggles, flaws, and humanity are just tools He can use when we put them in His hands.

But to evaluate what eternal perspective should mean in our life, we must understand what it is. For this understanding, we will start with some scripture that details what the Lord intended.

2 Corinthians 4:18

“So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Matthew 6:10

“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Psalm 139:7

“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence.”

I’d like to use this to springboard what I really want to talk about: boundaries and priorities. These can be tricky topics in today’s society. When I use the word ‘boundaries’, I don’t mean it in the sense of solely protecting yourself from hurt, exploitation, people-pleasing, and the like. I mean, eternal perspective in friendships, relationships, self-care, and everything in between. When we start evaluating the way we take care of ourselves and interact with others with a perspective for the unseen, everything in our lives, and the lives of those around us shift.

Think about this: pornography, sex outside of marriage, alcoholism, these things start when we fail to set adequate boundaries with ourselves before we get to the point where we need them. The temporary feels more satisfying in the moment than understanding eternity.

When we can think about eternity differently, these things become toxic and uncomfortable. In fact, the satisfaction of sin becomes toxic & uncomfortable. Because we can acknowledge how Christ died for us so we can be free from the sin and shame that comes with the temporary satisfaction of sin.

But, even more, we can evaluate our witness. Considering eternity… we are doing all of these things within view of other people whose eternity could be at stake. If we know we are going to spend eternity with the Lord, and the person next to us is not, how are we going to handle ourselves differently? If we know that the Lord is eternal and has us in His hand, how much more can we make decisions based on His best for us, instead of the temptation of what feels best in that moment?

Take singleness, dating and marriage, for example. As young adults (really even just people living life at any stage, if we’re being honest), the constant pull to move to the next stage is overwhelming. Especially when we’re walking with people who are constantly stepping into the next thing, seemingly without us.

But what if we looked at each stage with an eternal perspective? Singleness is a gift when it comes to freedom to live for the Lord and walk it out fully without distraction. Mission trips, service, ministry, and friendships are all things that you can do without consulting your partner or spouse.

Dating, marriage, and parenting within the context of eternal perspective should be viewed in the same light as singleness: How can WE grow the kingdom together? What can we gain through hard times, waiting periods, and seasons of transition? All these things become the perspective when we have the ingrained knowledge that this life is temporary.

What shifts in your perspective of your relationship or lack thereof when you start evaluating it in the light of the eternal? What shifts happen in your heart when you think about the rest of your life and the boundaries you set, or fail to set for yourself based on scriptural guidance?

I challenge you to take a step back from focusing on the next step, the next stage, the new season you’ve been waiting for. Ask the Lord what it is that you’re supposed to be seeing or learning moment-by-moment. Look around and see what you may be missing by just looking at what you don’t have yet. And do so through the lens of eternal perspective.

So, to wrap this up, ask the Lord to help you have eternal perspective, in the hard, unexpected, or mundane places. Ask Him to give you eternal perspective in the full, abundant, beautiful places. Every morning, when you wake, pray, “Lord, let everything I encounter today be seen with eternal perspective. As I live the mundane, yet beautiful moments, let your will be done and your kingdom come, one moment at a time, on earth as it is in heaven.”