17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
Colossians 2:17 ESV
With very little effort, I find myself slipping into a distorted view of life. We think this world and the life we live in it is important, real, or maybe earning us points for the after party. However, so much of what we think of as significant is really a shadow, merely a glimpse of reality.
We sometimes confuse the two realms. We think of the spirit realm as somehow imaginary or less than real, although we may acknowledge that it has an impact on the “real” world. This sneaks into our vocabulary when we talk of prayer as “all we can do,” diminishing its impact. We want to do something “real,” something physical.
Honestly, the reality is likely still a bit beyond our comprehension. C.S. Lewis breathes fresh perspective into this truth at the close of his Chronicles of Narnia:
“There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan softly. “Your father and mother and all of you are–as you used to call it in the Shadowlands–dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”
And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
(C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle (HarperCollins: New York, 1956) p. 228.)
When this life ends, the holiday begins and the dream that is this world ends. We cannot even comprehend the beauty that is to come when we wake up in eternity, our real story.
There’s our hope. Every day on earth will have challenge and strain, but the promises and subsequent hope is laced throughout all of Scripture.
No one who practices deceit
Psalm 101:7 ESV
shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
shall continue before my eyes.
Judgement for those that reject God, life eternal for those that follow Him. We get to live in His house, and remain in His presence.
The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!
Psalm 99:1 ESV
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
For now, I need to take more time to let His awesomeness overwhelm me. Let the problems in this world shrink to their proper perspective, a mere shadow, and hold tight to the hope that we can ride securely everyday.
Lord God, I forget. I forget this life is not all there is sometimes. I see death as the end rather than the beginning and my hope diminishes accordingly. I see the demands of the day and not the truth of their minimal weight. You are real. Heaven is real. Eternity is real. Give me the vision and boldness to live accordingly. In Jesus Name Amen.
Sixty-six books in a year 
Beautiful!