Eyes fixed on the Horizon

When I hear that God is timeless, I imagine a line drawn across eternity—beginning perhaps in 1950 and ending in 2050. God, however, does not travel this line moment by moment as we do. He stands outside of it, beholding the whole from beginning to end in a single, eternal gaze. To Him, past, present, and future are not unfolding—they simply are. To Him, all moments are present because he inhabits eternity. This truth reassures my worry time and time again. The Alpha and Omega knows who I was, who I am, and who I will be. I trust Him not only with my past but with every unseen tomorrow, for none of it is hidden from His eternal view.

For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.

Psalms 90:4

The past is deep like the ocean. The same story is told over and over: civilisations rise, conquer others, and eventually fall. Wars and revolutions, nothing new under the sun. Britain was once an empire now it is just a country. God has seen each kingdom rise and fall. We live in a time where politics is so volatile. Each new headline spells the end of a nation. How does God view this?

He changes times and seasons;    he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

Daniel 2:21

Great historical events like World War I shook the entire earth. Yet even such a great tragedy was succeeded by an even worse one, World War II. The choices of the past seem final, like the waves of the ocean, they rise high, but eventually, even the mighty wave crashes and a new one forms. This is true of both world histories and individual choices. Moments of great triumph and defeat are all temporary, the wind blows and rolls over a new season of life. What we need is the wisdom to interpret the past. Building on the good and learning from the bad. Not to get stuck in regret or wishful longing for the good old days. To see history as God does, asking him to redeem sin, trusting him to heal injustice, being gratefulfor past joy and grieving with hope.

Now, if the past is like the depths of the sea, the future is the heights of the sky. We are enlightened with the possibilities of all that could be. In a sense, the future is unlimited; we can soar higher than we ever imagined. Whatever choices were made in the past can’t be undone, but the future is unwritten. Possibility after possibility awaits us. However, in all this dreaming, a quiet anxiety takes over, the fear that you will not become all that you dreamed of. Now worry steals joy. Working tirelessly to have everything go according to plan. However, in a world where things hardly ever go according to plan what do we do?

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

Matthew 6:25-27

God sees who we will become and what this world will decay or evolve to. Therefore, he tells us not to worry but to trust that he will provide. Currently, I am studying a course that focuses on planning for future cities. While we have our projections and theories one can never really know what a city will become. In fact, I hardly know what I will become, only God knows. God designed us to be time-bound, to live in the present moment, yet our minds are always racing to future realities.

As God looks down on my 2050, I wonder what he sees; dreams fulfilled? Goals unmet? Plans changed? I think the reason God tells us to trust him is because he sees 2050 more clearly than I see today. He knows exactly who each one of us will become, not because he forced us into certain roles but because he is the beginning and end of time. If he knows exactly who you will become you can trust him when he says he will provide for you. When you pray for your future wish list to be answered, do you have in mind the beautiful life God is weaving for you? To trust God with our unwritten future seems risky. Some dreams we hold tightly but the safest place for our dreams is not in our hearts but in the hands of God. With the one who sees your tomorrow and promises to provide for it. The one who knew you before your life began will not leave you alone during it. So even in the unknown trust the God who sees all that you will become.

God sees our past selves and who we will be, but he also sees further into time, he sees who we were made to be. He sees us joining his reality of time, that is eternity. Before you and I were born he had this destiny in mind for us. God has always seen us with eternal eyes. In fact, he sees all of time this way

The wars between nations in light of his kingdom:

“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.

Daniel 2:44

Our sins in light of the new creation he is making us into:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

Our painful grief in light of heaven:

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Revelation 21:4-5

When God looks at the timeline of our world it must seem so short compared to the vast eternity ahead. I think of eternity like the line of the horizon. So much unseen wonder lies beyond it. There's only so much you can know looking at the horizon. But if you sail towards it you discover a vast world that lies beyond. Eternity may seem a mystery yet it is within reach. God says that through Christ we can experience eternity today.

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

John 17:3

To experience eternal life we need to know Christ. To live life in light of knowing him. Eternity is not some far-off uncharted waters; it is a present reality we can experience now. Yes, its fullest expression will come at the end of time, but we need not wait for the end of time to know what life with Christ feels like. To have every present choice guided by his word, to have our future plans covered by his will and to have all lost time of past mistakes bought back. The past redeemed, the present guided, the future surrendered and eternity secured.

Therefore, how do we live this present moment with all this in mind? This brings me to my last image. If the past is like the ocean, the future the sky and eternity the horizon then the present must be the shoreline. The stage where you look at the magnificent picture of your life and join in the dance. From the shoreline, you can see your 1950 and imagine your 2050, but to have a clear view of both, you must have your eyes fixed on the horizon. It's funny how the horizon is the line where the sky meets the sea. Where past and future collide. With this vista in sight, you can learn from the past, be grateful for the present and hopeful for the future. When we focus on looking at one element we fall short of the beauty of the whole. Seeing the waves of past choices wash over, watching the clouds of possibility move across the sky and being grateful that you are still present to see all of it.

What a wonderful gift it is to have eternity now. We are not bound to the regrets of yesterday, the weight of today, or the uncertainty of tomorrow. Fixing our eyes on the horizon means learning to see beyond the moment: not getting stuck in the weight of the past, not simply surviving the present, and not letting the future stir up fear we were never meant to carry. In Christ, we’re invited to live with that bigger picture in mind. We can walk through each day with steady hope, knowing that our lives are part of something far greater. Let this reality help you fix your eyes on Christ and live in light of eternity.

God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Ecclesiastes 3: 11

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:12