Yesterday, I was speaking with a ministry partner, and she mentioned something simple yet biblically profound as I thought about the sorrow our nation has felt over the past few weeks.
She said, “You know, in Jeremiah 29:11, when God speaks of giving His people hope and a future, He’s referring to our eternal hope of Heaven—not our time here on earth.”
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
When she shared this with me, I realized, Wow, she's absolutely right! I'm often so focused on the here and now that I sometimes forget our life on earth is but a blip when we consider eternity.
Historically, this promise was made to ancient Jews under the Babylonian exile for a restored Israel, but it expresses the unchanging heart of God toward His people (Guzik). The words "hope and a future" are literally "an end and a hope" which is known as a hendiadys (when a complex idea is expressed in two words linked by a coordinating conjection) and means "a hopeful end." (Feinberg)
The recent loss and heartbreak in our nation has made it difficult not to dwell on the reality of spiritual warfare present in our world. When I was younger, I distinctly remember allowing heartbreak and disappointment to absolutely plague me at times (e.g., an unexpected breakup, a failed exam, the loss of a loved one, or a broken relationship). You may remember how devastating something so trivial (or quite serious!) could feel as a teenager with shifting hormones and the whiplashes of puberty—like the world was coming to an end!
As we mature in our faith walk, the sources of our heartbreak often shift, and for many of us, we gradually begin to view trials and tribulations in light of eternity.
Our focus on the hope and future of eternity is never meant to diminish or disregard loss or the importance of mourning and feeling the pain—Jesus wept many times throughout the Bible, and Ecclesiastes 3:4 reminds us, “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”
However, as mentors, we can gauge our daughters’ and mentees’ perspectives as either short-sighted and temporary or eternal and hopeful based on how they respond. Maybe they exhibit these:
- Overgeneralizing: "The world is falling apart."
- Catastrophizing: "This heartbreak feels like a lifetime of pain."
- Fixation: "I just can't shake how she made me feel."
- Numbing: "I feel nothing. I just can't talk about it."
- Escapism: "I feel better when I'm scrolling or watching TV."
- Self-isolation: "No one understands; I just want to be alone."
If you recognize these responses or coping behaviors in your mentee, pray for wisdom to talk about the hope of eternity with her and encourage her perspective to shift. Recently, I felt called to repent of some of my own internal and temporary focuses and have asked God to help me develop eternal thinking. Here are a few ideas:
- Ask your mentee about her perspectives on grief, fear, and heartbreak, and if she'd like to practice eternal thinking.
- Invite her to pray together for God to give her an eternal perspective—she can even write this as a goal in her curriculum with an intentional prayer around it.
- Invite her to write down what she's living for beyond this life.
- Pick out verses on present sufferings and perseverance like Romans 8:18 and 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 to memorize.
- Encourage her to consider, "How does this choice honor God in the long term?"
- Share with her one of my favorite (oldie but goodie!) videos that depicts our short time on earth until we receive the eternal crown of Heaven:
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 3:13-14
This is why we mentor.
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