Weight a Minute: Decisions in Light of Eternity

by Nick Cooper

Have you ever found yourself looking straight in the eyes of one of those life-altering decisions? Maybe for you, it was figuring out what college you were going to attend after high school; or maybe what you were going to major in so that you could chart the course for your career.

For others of you, maybe you experienced one of these moments when you were about to ask your spouse to marry you — or when you were wrestling with what credit card or loan you were going to pay off first.

If you’re anything like me, you probably find yourself recalling all of these moments in your life when you faced something really BIG and scary. And at the time, sure, these things left you feeling overwhelmed, scared, and maybe even to a point where stress was eating you alive.  I wrote recently about my decision to step down from my position as Youth Director at New City, a really difficult decision and something that God was leading me to consider.

Ultimately I prayed and I made a decision that for better or worse, altered my story. I can say the same thing for a recent calling to pursue Biblical counseling as a career, or an opportunity to go on a short-term mission trip to Romania in October to help care for global leaders and partners who are experiencing burnout. To me, these are more than big moments in my faith — they appear to me to be decisions that seem overwhelming and difficult.

The Weight of Big Decisions

I put a lot of weight on these decisions. Almost like my life depends on my response to them; like somehow if I don’t go to Romania I will have missed out and God will never call on me to serve again. Or that if I choose to follow in obedience with a career calling, that somehow I’ll make the wrong choice and be poor, jobless and maybe even homeless in 3 years. What my fear reveals is a misbelief that God will pull the rug out from under His good plans for me if I make the wrong choice. That His will, grace, and provision are contingent on my flawless obedience - as if that were even possible. 

The truth is that I am secure in God’s love and faithfulness toward me because of His Son. I am not in danger of losing God’s love, affection, compassion, care, or eternal life because all of those are secured for me in Christ. So I am free to make decisions, even big ones, prayerfully, carefully, with His help and wisdom from others, trusting that He will work all things together for my good and His glory.

But all of this thinking about the BIG decisions, the weight I put on them as anchors of my faith and cornerstones of my life got me thinking. In our lifetimes we may only make a handful of big decisions. Again, maybe it’s buying a house, moving to another state or country for a job; for some of you it could be whether or not to leave your job and do something new — but think about the faith we have in these decisions and how much we elevate these things above our normal every day lives. We spend so much time in thought and prayer over them, and we pour ourselves in Scripture and we seek counsel, etc.

What about your daily life though?

The Weight of Small Decisions

If you’re reading this, then you live your life with a normal 24-hour day.  Within that day are 1440 minutes. Within the scope of one year, you're talking about 525,600 minutes that God gives us to make decisions. During those minutes, how much consideration are you giving to the decisions that you make? What you have for breakfast; the outfit you’re going to wear to work; what roads will you take to get to and from your kid’s school? What book are you reading in Scripture? What are you praying for?  Or who are you going to be kind to or completely ignore during the day?

The Spirit has really convicted me lately by helping me see that so often I put little to no weight on the choices I make daily. To be honest, it’s probably because I think that they don’t really matter. I mean, does it matter if you choose to have a Coke or water with your lunch? Probably not— unless your doctor has told you to not drink the Coke for medical reasons. But you get the idea. In light of eternity, something like that doesn’t matter. However, in light of eternity, the way we live our lives does.

Ephesians 5:15-17 says this:

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Every day we are given 1440 minutes to say “yes” or “no” to things that God has called us to. With each decision we make or word we say, we reveal to others just what we believe about the Gospel. These little decisions such as buying lunch for a friend, or stopping to pray for someone who needs it are shaping us into people who look more or less like the humans God designed us to be. Speaking a kind word rather than a harsh one, doing our work diligently rather than grumbling. These are all decisions that we make every day. The fact of the matter is that our time on this earth is fleeting. Not one of us is promised tomorrow, and therefore we should make good use of our time.

I spend a lot of time worrying about the big stuff and praying for God to help me make the right decisions because ultimately I want to follow God and want to be faithful and obedient to Him. But if I’m honest, I daily fail to do that in the small things of life. Every day I miss the hopelessness of those around me. I work and interact with people that are going through the worst this world has to throw at them, and yet I don’t stop to share the hope that I have in Jesus. I forget to tell others or remind myself about all the ways in which He is good and faithful.  

Praise the Lord that the very same Gospel that gives me hope in the big decisions is my salvation in these failures too. I do miss opportunities and I do choose the wrong things - and that is exactly why I need a Savior. Praise God that He has rescued me from my sin, He is rescuing me from my failure even now, and He will one day fully and finally rescue me from it.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 convicts me where it states:

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

We are going to face trials and tribulations, a few really big decisions, and a lot of small ones. My prayer is that you and I would remember that for those of us who believe in the power of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus — we are to view our lives in light of eternity. We set our eyes not on things this world would offer us, but on those things that carry eternal weight.  I pray that we would also understand the weight that each moment brings. The fact of the matter is that the choices that we make each day reveal a lot more about our hope in the Gospel than our great moments of faith.