Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Psalm 103:2.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18.

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10.

This morning in our Friday Zoom Retreat, we talked about familiarity. “The greatest of all illusions is the illusion of familiarity.” G.K. Chesterton. Do we do that with Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit? Are we so “familiar” with Him that we never think about Him? He is unseen so everything in our lives that we do see crowds Him out. It’s difficult to think that the things we see are temporary because they are pressing in all around us. But, when we take moments to be still with Him, it’s as though a door opens. And there we find what is eternal. His love. His help. His peace because we are with Him who is eternal. It’s a mindset so alien to us until we stop and consider how much greater Creator God is than anything we can think or imagine of Him, as limited as we are by not contemplating or seeing what is eternal.

And in our chapter, Zechariah 13, the eternal is contrasted with the temporary. “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” v. 1. In seeing what is eternal, people will be ashamed of what they once professed that was not real, v. 2-6. “Awake, sword, against My shepherd, against the man who is close to Me!” declares the Lord Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones. In the whole land,” declares the Lord, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” v. 7-9. That is eternal! Last night Israel attacked nuclear sites in Iran. Temporary. I couldn’t help but thank Creator God that He, not any nation or leader, is in charge of the outcome – for all of us. Eternal. Do we crowd out the eternal when we see the temporary chaos pressing in? Be still. Fix your eyes on Creator God, and forget not any of His benefits because His benefits are eternal. And as one of our members this morning said, when we are personally undergoing trials, why don’t we be still….and know that God IS. That makes all the difference because then we are going to our Creator who loves each one of us. In Him we find the eternal help we need.