This Feeling Won’t Last Forever

• It will pass. That’s what Paul  is trying to get you to see about some of the things you think are so  important in your life: It will pass. Paul is trying to get us to understand in 1  Corinthians, which is a letter to a church that was confused about priorities and was  carnal in their understanding, that some of the things you’re busy toning up, some of the  things you’re busy tightening, and some of the tricks you’re busy perfecting on this earth are  just solving temporary problems that really have
• no eternal value. Although they matter, they  are not supreme. It cannot be the priority. I want to stop prioritizing things that are  going to pass away. Don’t you? I want to stop putting things first that are going to fade  in the end. I want to stop giving all of my attention to things that are not assets but  liabilities spiritually.
• So, the difference between what is permanent and what is passing  is, to me, the essence of 1 Corinthians 13. If you came in this morning and said, “Pastor  Steven, what is the essence of 1 Corinthians 13?” I would say to you, with much confidence,  the difference between what is passing and what is permanent. Write those two words down in  your notebook: passing and permanent.
• Passing and permanent. Paul says that love never fails,  but everything else will pass away. It will pass. Maybe the Lord is saying that about a storm  you’re going through in your life. “It will pass.” I just want to stop and minister this to  somebody today. Maybe it’s about the sadness you feel and the grief in the season you’re going  through. It will pass.
• That’s why we have to get you somehow to keep going through this valley  you’re going through right now, because it will pass. Tell your neighbor tenderly, “It will  pass.” Put it in the chat. “It will pass.” Whether it’s a valley you don’t want to go through  or a mountain you really like standing on top of, it will pass. That trophy isn’t going to  last forever. It will pass.
• Even the greatest relationship in your life, humanly speaking,  has a time limit to it called death. It will pass. I don’t mean to depress you, but I  think it is very perspective-giving for me to realize that everything I’m worried  about and everything I’m concerned about and everything I’m going through right now  that feels like it’s never going to end… The word of the Lord is, “It will pass.
• ”  One of the greatest Bible verses you could ever memorize would be, “And it came  to pass.” Take the good times and hold them. Cherish them. Hold them up high. Hold  them up like The Lion King, talking about, “This is what God gave me,” but just know it will  pass. It won’t always be like that. It will pass. When our kids were very small, I  was so sick of people telling me, “The days are long, but the years are short.