In last week’s post I talked about my upcoming unemployment, and while I trust God will provide, it is still difficult to think about how. Then this past Saturday, I attended the funeral for the wife of a dear friend of mine I’ve known for over 30 years. At the funeral I heard my friend speak about who she was and what she meant to him; that she was an amazing woman, and an amazing wife, and a fantastic mother to her two kids. We also heard her mom and her sister talk about what a wonderful daughter and sister she was. Not once during that service did we hear anyone talk about the amount of money or food or possessions she left behind. The importance of her existence while here on earth did not come from the material things she owned but by who she was and what she meant to those around her.

Then on Monday I went to a dentist appointment, and I got to hear about how my dentist and his family, just the week before, escaped from their burning house (which was started by the lithium batteries in one of their toy remote-controlled cars). While they all survived unharmed, they lost everything but the clothes on their backs and the shoes on their feet. And yet when my dentist talked about the situation, he didn’t talk about what he lost, but by the things that really matter, which are his wife and his kids. He also talked about how he almost didn’t make it out. He had gone back inside to look for the dogs (which didn’t make it, by the way) and in his fury to find his beloved pets the smoke became so thick he couldn’t see anything. He remembered standing somewhere at the top of the stairs trying unsuccessfully to find the handrail to the stairwell. He said he prayed to God and said he was prepared to go, but if it was His will, God was going to have to find a way for him to escape. The next thing he remembered was walking out the front door. He has no idea how he got there, but God provided the way.

Both of these incidences quickly brought things into perspective for me and allowed me to focus even more on what really matters. Perspective allows us to see all the ways God leads us through difficult times. God never said it would be easy, but He did say He would lead us through if we trust in Him. God also never promised us wealth or even comfort, but he did promise He would provide all that we need. The proof of this comes at the end of our lives when no one cares how much money we have or how much stuff we possess. They care about who we were as people; as husbands and wives, and as children and friends. Those are the things that matter and when we put them into perspective, those are the things we will leave behind. What do we want to focus on? Is it on all the things, or is it the impact we have on others? Personally, I want to be remembered for the impact I had on other people more than I want to be remembered for my bank account or how much stuff I accumulated.

Matthew 19:23-26 (NIV) says, Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”