We live in such an unsettling time. A global pandemic. Disunity in our nation and even among our church family. Political anger that destroys relationships between family and friends. If my focus is on social media and the news things might seem completely hopeless. But my focus is not on those things. My hope is not in Washington, D.C. My hope is in the finished work of Jesus. This life is just the warmup act for followers of Jesus. A classic tune from the Righteous Brothers reflects my hope.

If you believe in forever,
Then life is just a one-night stand.

Those lyrics reminded me that even if you hit triple digits on the age odometer this journey is still an eternal blink of the eye. Your significance is not how long but how well you live your life. Not how much fame or money you gain but what you do with time you are given.

This weekend a song popped up on satellite radio called “We’re Only Here for a Little While”. Billy Dean is singing about leaving a funeral and recognizing his need to slow down and enjoy the everyday blessings of life. He decides to become intentional about doing the things that matter instead of worrying and tweeting about things that don’t amount to a hill of beans in eternity.

Gonna hold who needs holdin’
Mend what needs mendin’
Walk what needs walkin’
Though it means an extra mile
Pray what needs prayin’
Say what needs sayin’
Cause we’re only here for a little while.  

That is a pretty good to do list to live a life that makes a difference. Being present with those you love. Forgiving AND asking to be forgiven. Taking your journey with Jesus seriously. Understanding and practicing the power of prayer. Speaking the truth in grace and love. The last lyric is the one that is most fraught with danger. We often find it easy to say what we think needs to be said. It is such a difficult thing to speak truth into the life of someone who is determined to go their own way. Perhaps a gigantic how to clue is embedded in a verse from the Gospel of John.

Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. (John 1:14, NET)

Jesus was full of grace and truth. Most of us are full of truth or we are full of some variation of that. I suspect in God’s wisdom, grace comes first because we have a far harder time communicating with grace. I am often willing to be “honest” and tell you where you are wrong. Doing that with grace and truth requires me to love you and to be vulnerable. Jesus modeled a perfectly balanced blend of grace and truth.

That is my prayer as I engage those who have made mistakes and are suffering the consequences of those decisions. I pray that I will always present truth as a gift of grace from a loving God instead of performance demands in order to be acceptable to Him. The following principle is nearly always true.

Truth presented as law hardens hearts.
Truth presented with grace changes hearts.

When we meditate on the grace given to us as a free gift by our gracious God we can can begin to model Paul’s words to the church at Ephesus.

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. (Ephesians 4:15, NLT)

Meditate on Paul’s words and remember we are only here for a little while. No matter what happens November 3rd we have a Sovereign God who loves us and calls us His child. Maybe remembering that will help us worry a little more about the things that matter for eternity. And focus on the One who can unite us.