If you genuinely believe that something will be “worth it” you can push through a lot of hardship, you can endure a lot of pain. Take exercise, for example. Many people struggle with their DESIRE to exercise. Trainers will tell you, “you don’t have to LIKE it, you just have to DO it.” And I hear, when you push through that mental block and Just Do It… you get your own Nike commercial. Just kidding. What do they say? They say, “it will be worth it.”
All this dieting will be worth it when you can fit into those skinny jeans. All those mornings of exercise will be worth it when swim suit season comes. All those hours of hitting the pavement will be worth it when you cross the finish line of your first marathon. Whatever the goal, it will be worth it when you achieve what you are striving for.
Paul says that the hard things we go through here in life are like “light and momentary trials” compared with what is to come. We must keep our eyes on the prize in order to keep things in perspective. Our goal is to run the race well, our prize is Jesus. We keep our eyes fixed on the prize, and one day it will be worth it all.
I am sure that Jesus felt that giving up his throne in heaven to be born into a pain filled, uncomfortable human body was somehow worth it. It was a very uneven exchange, to say the least. But he had his eye on the prize. He felt that dying a horrific death on the cross was worth it in the grand scheme of things. We were worth it, to him. Sometimes we marvel at that assessment of things, we don’t feel like we were worth all that. But God did. He has no regrets about going through all that for us. He says it was worth it all. And we just have to take his word on that.
In language school, a missionary will spend hour and hours memorizing verb conjugations and tenses. He memorizes many notebooks full of vocabulary in the language he is studying. He holds on to the belief that one day, all this practice, all this memorization, all this humiliation and brokenness will be worth it all. One day, these strange sounds coming out of his mouth will make sense to someone and will cause someone to open their heart to Jesus. One day, all this investment will be worth it all.
I have an obsession. I think about heaven all the time. I am like a kid waiting for Christmas day. I am giddy at the thought that one day all this *crap* that we deal with here on earth will be over. One day I will look around and find myself walking on some heavenly shore with my beloved Jesus. I will look around me and know with deep satisfaction that it was indeed worth it all.
Someday it will be worth it all. What other kinds of things are “worth it” to you?
Monkeys in My Bag 