Only a moment

So I sat in the chair, waiting for the doctor to come in. This medical procedure was not going to be pleasant. No, you don't know want to know any more, trust me. And it's not important.

What does matter is that I knew it was going to be full of, as doctors like to say, "discomfort". A lot of discomfort.

As the time passed, I got philosophical, trying to psyche myself up for it. I reminded myself of some great truths.

• Compared to all of eternity, it was only going to be a moment. I could take that.
• It was going to be nothing compared to the pain endured by the great saints as they were tortured for their faith.
• It is only physical pain. Physical pain is a warning system for a house that is temporary anyway. Physical pain is minor compared to spiritual or emotional wounds.

And so on.

The time came, and it was not fun. But it's over now, the results were good, and life goes on.

And so now I am reflecting on the waiting time. You know, the perspectives I reflected on are just as true about the sufferings of this life. If our hope is in the Messiah Jesus, anything the world throws at us is only temporary. There is a surpassing joy not only in the future, but now, that overshadows the difficulties of life. Stress at work. Grief. Arguments at home. All of those things are only a moment.

And so I can not only survive, but thrive. Because my joy is from another Kingdom, not this one.

Bring it on.