the LANDSCAPE of ETERNITY

I was sitting out on my front yard recently watching the traffic of people walk the boards. With the beautiful beach only 30 yards in front of me, I thanked God for where HE currently had me. You see, my front yard is the boardwalk and the beach is my horizon; yet would you believe me if I told you that my current latitude and longitude has nothing to do with my heart of gratitude? I mean, of course I am appreciative of my present position, but the outward view has nothing to do with this spiritual condition.So while I was sitting on the boardwalk under the 70-degree sun and simultaneously watching people pass, I was also praying --which reminded me of a scene from my past. And in this scene I was sitting on a bench, quite like the one I was sitting on in that moment, only instead of seeing people in beach attire, I was looking at towers and barbwire. And instead of hearing boardwalk talk of hilarity, I was exposed to prison talks of vulgarity. The scene that God brought back to my attention--I was in prison and sitting in the prison yard--I was surrounded by jailbirds, and trust me, some can be more annoying than hungry sea gulls. But with the polar opposite of external scenery, I found that my internal view was still the same—set to the landscape of eternity.In other words, I was reminded that I had this same peace and gratitude in prison that I do now that I’m “free.”The Bible declares of God, “that He will keep the individual in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him because that person trusts Him” (Is. 26:3). And I know this truth to be true, as perfect peace was the prison that held me back then and is even the boardwalk that carries me now. It was because of Gods perfect peace that I was able to “people watch” in both settings and pray up gratitude regardless of external atrocities or pleasantries.God’s peace is no respecter of circumstances, but His peace does depend upon our ability to learn contentedness. So like Paul, whether we are high or low, whether we are in adversity or prosperity, or whether we are on the beach or behind the wall, we must learn to be content in every state of circumstances by keeping our mind stayed on Gods providences.So while the external views have changed, the internal view remains the same.