Discovering Eternity

As the years go by, my heart increasingly feels like a heavy box of broken trinkets—former treasures of faded film, an old mixtape and matured ink of stories untold. I dream of crawling into black and white postcards so that I can see and taste the past in vivid colour.

I miss the old times—balmy afternoons chasing dandelion dust and hearing Pepper’s paws scratching the front door. I miss the old Us—my innocent awe to once upon a times and loving a stranger behind rose coloured glasses. I miss the old me—bold and careless, naïve and weightless, I planned on changing the world over breakfast.

In an impatient world where seasons come and go, my hurried heart grasps for timelessness. I want to reclaim my innocence and organise a reunion that will last forever. I want to smooth out the fine lines on my grandmother’s face and to relive the days when my father was still big enough to be my hero. I want to hold his pink paw one last time and to nap in fields of evergreen.

While wisdom tells me to plan for the future, I tend to find comfort and solace in the past. My memories console me with old affections—and yet they haunt me with today’s absence. In a transient world, all is finite. Like wildflowers, we bloom and wither. Our hellos are discoloured by goodbyes.

I can’t decide whether I love or hate my capacity to remember, but what I do know is that nostalgia was imprinted on my heart so that I would search far and wide for eternity. Discovering an eternal God, has freed me to let go of my yesterday’s built on sand, and to cling to the Rock of Ages—my firm foundation—who has existed from the very beginning. In Him, I have discovered a glory that will never diminish, a strength unchallenged by death and a love that will never change.

I have learned that I don’t need to romanticise the past, because in Christ, my future is secure. The One who placed eternity in the human heart came to fulfil its every desire. He has rescued me into a heaven without tears, a future without goodbyes, and a day when wistful longing will be no more. Discovering eternity has helped my nostalgic heart to rest in the evergreen pastures of divine providence. Yesterday was willed and tomorrow has been planned, so in Him, I can be fully present.

How does knowing an eternal God shape your perspective on time?
Let me know in the comments below!

This reflection was inspired by the lyrics of ‘Ancient of Days’ by CityAlight which is available on my Hymns of Hope Spotify Playlist.