“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:17-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Wouldn’t it e nice if life worked like a math problem? You know, 2+2=4. Simple. Easy. Always the same answer. It never changes. Put in these numbers and you get the same answer. Dependable. 

But it isn’t like that, is it? And, although math is reliable, it becomes difficult at the more advanced levels. Formulas and variables get more and more complicated. The answers may turn out the same, but it becomes more challenging to get there.

Math is not my strong suit! I did really well at algebra for some reason. I remember getting a 96 on the New York State Regents exam! Discovering the value of x was not as difficult for me as geometry. Proofs and theorems just never settled with my brain. I took the Geometry Regents exam three times trying to get a better grade and just couldn’t improve enough. Geometry was challenging for me. Challenging. There’s a word for 2020.

A year like 2020 makes us long for the predictable. What is the formula for 2020?! None of us have ever walked this way before. We don’t know what to expect. We don’t like where we are and we just want it to be over. Lots of people have their opinions and ideas of what it will take to end this pandemic. They all think they are right. They each present their own “formula” for reaching the desired solution to the pandemic problem. “If we just do this...then that will happen.... and this whole thing will be over.” Yet, even the experts have no idea what will really happen. No one knows the formula to solve COVID-19 because there are so many variables. And COVID is only one of the 2020 problems that need solving.

Formulas. We like those. Variables. Not so much. This has been a year that has thrown formulas out the window. For example, the holiday formula goes like this:  It’s Thanksgiving. Everyone comes home to visit and we go to Grandmas’s house for a turkey dinner. In 2020 — wrong! That formula did not work at all! 2020 has been a year full of variables. Nothing is the same. Add COVID as a variable and you get don’t get together with family for Thanksgiving. Christmas 2020 will be skewed by variables as well. 

So what do we learn from all this? Let’s end 2020 with some positive takeaways, because there are some. 

Let’s start with this one: Troubles don’t last forever, no matter what they are. The apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthians that their troubles were “small” and “wouldn’t last long”. The NIV says “light” and “momentary.” Paul was writing to people going through hard times. Hard times within their relational community and hard times in the world at large. Hmm. Sound familiar?

As arduous as this year has been for all of us, we know that it won’t last forever. It can’t. But while we are in the middle of it, let’s remind ourselves that it will end. It has to. It may not end as soon as we would like, but it will end. Put 2020 in the perspective of eternity. This year is only one of thousands. It looms large right now because we are the ones living it, but it will fade and blend with the multitude of other years that were filled with trouble. It’s hard — it really is — but it won’t last. 

God is not a variable.  As you listen to the news and as you try to navigate the twists and turns of 2020, what have you fixed your eyes on? Was it the outcome of the election? Some people see the “right” person in the White House as the answer to all our problems. Was it in following CDC guidelines in order to protect yourself and your family? There is a difference between being careful and being ruled by fear. Where have you fallen on that continuum? Maybe you have set your gaze toward the day when all this is over and life can go “back to normal.” There are people who are mentally skipping over all the challenges and acting like they don’t exist at all. Essentially, they are expecting all the normal formulas to work without taking the variables into account. The truth is “normal” won’t look the same. Looking back to the normal that was will not prepare us for the normal that will be. We need to fix our eyes on the One that will not change. The One who really does have this all figured out. The One who knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). God is not a variable. He does not change. We have our hope in Him as an anchor for our souls regardless of our storms (Hebrews 6:19). God is the one who stays the same no matter what. 

Focus on the constants rather than the variables. The way we navigate all the variables is to keep our eyes fixed on the big picture, the things that don’t change. God is still working out His purposes for His glory in 2020. His purposes are not limited by the pandemic or any other perils that the world is facing. Think of it this way: We still celebrated Thanksgiving, right? In spite of the variables, the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving remains the same. God is good and His love endures forever (Psalm 107:1). In the midst of variables, the formula remains the same: God’s goodness and love + any circumstance = A reason to give thanks. Like many of you, we were not able to celebrate with family this year, but it really way a good day. The goal of the holiday was not to hang out with family, eat a lot of turkey and watch football. The goal was to give thanks to God. How we got there was different, but we could still give thanks. We still have a reason to celebrate. God’s goodness and love still prevails. His eternal purposes are still being accomplished. He remains the constant King above all. 

Let’s take that thought with us into this wonky 2020 Christmas season. Regardless of what this one looks like. Regardless of all the variables. No human can make this go away faster, but it won’t last forever. Our God is the same regardless of how we celebrate Christmas. We have the privilege of understanding the constant in why we celebrate Christmas. Our eternal God sent His Son to the earth to be born, to die for our sins and to rise again as proof that our relationship with God is restored. One day He will come again and, oh, the party we’ll have in heaven! Let’s stay focused on the celebration that will last forever regardless of the variables that alter our formulas here on earth. Be blessed, Dear Friend!

Key thought: God is not a variable. 

A Scripture to consider:  “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:17-18‬ ‭NLT

A YES challenge: Ask yourself this question in God’s presence: What have I been fixing my eyes on in 2020? Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal where you have been fixing your gaze and ask Him to help you focus on God’s eternal goodness. 

Prayer: Father, there have been a lot of variables this year. It has been overwhelming at times and there have been moments when I have lost sight of You in the midst of it all. This year has had a lot of troubles, but help me to remember that they won’t last and that You do not change. Help me to focus on You and Your purposes in the midst of this all. I choose to fix my eyes on Your eternal goodness. Amen.