Troubles Piling Up? ‘This Too Shall Pass’

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’ (2 Corinthians 4:18)

There is much we see in today’s society that can depress us. It seems that the secular society is offended by everything except sin, which is the one thing that should be offensive. We can then ‘dogpile’ on that, and get on conspiracy theories, the economy, supply chain, failing infrastructure, and the ‘McRib’ is no longer being offered. Perhaps we have a health issue that right now is terrible, from a bad toothache to having to undergo cancer treatments. There may be more ‘month’ than ‘money’, and with these things we ask, ‘when will things start getting better?’

The phrase, ‘This too shall pass’ is not a Biblical phrase, per se – it is not spelled out in any verse, though there is a Jewish ‘tale’ outside of Scriptures of King Solomon having a ring with the phrase as its inscription. The closest match is 2 Corinthians 4:18, which talks of that which is seen, or of this Earth, is all temporary.  King Solomon apparently understood this as well, when he wrote Ecclesiastes, where he describes the seasons of life in chapter 3.  

No matter what thing that is upon the Earth that occurs, it is all temporary; for us humans we can look at our youth, our young adult life, our mid-life, and our ‘seasoned’ season of being elderly.  We’ve likely had cars that we loved, and perhaps for 3 to 10 years that car was great, but then it became a burden, breaking down and eventually having to get traded in or towed away, never to be seen again. 

‘This too shall pass’ can also be a description of events that we encounter, perhaps with joy (a college degree) or trepidation (illness treatments).  Yet, we start the process, go through it, perhaps graduate or ring the bell, and now we look back years later and realize ‘I did go through that’.  I remember thinking when I joined the Army and started boot camp, or when I started my Bachelors for business administration, it seemed so long in time at the start that I was ‘stuck’, or the task was too daunting. Yet I now look at my Honorable Discharge, and my two degrees (Bachelors & Masters) and I realize that both took place many years ago, and they did not take all that long. 

I have also been sick with pancreatitis, gall bladder issues, flus, food poisoning (it’s a toss up between the food poisoning and the pancreatitis as the worst), and each time it came, and in a relatively short period of time, went. For now, things are good, and I’m certain at some point (hopefully much later down the road) things may not be – but we need to live in the mindset of ‘today I serve the Lord’ while holding onto the hope of our permanent, eternal life with Christ for the future – and that these times of ‘bad’, when they come, will pass and things will get better.

Since ‘This too shall pass’ is Earthly and temporary, what won’t pass?  It is that which is Spiritual in nature; our God, our Savior Jesus, and our Holy Spirit.  Those things are what will not pass, that our Faith in Christ bonds us forever to Him.  Eternity lasts forever, and will never change.  Ecclesiastes is about the temporary, but the Gospel message of Jesus is that there is a means to make things permanent. 

Illness, issues, and dilemmas are temporary – our problems should get better or they may get worse, but it is all temporary.  But know we have a permanent robe awaiting us when we join our Savior in Eternity.  Jesus promises us it will be always good, with no illness or sadness and be always beautiful and bountiful, so never worry about the seen – look toward that which is ‘unseen’ (for now)…