Martha Olawale

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

If you are an adult, consider your favorite elementary school classroom. Remember your class teacher and classmates and the long hours you spend with them every weekday. It was like a season of life that would go on forever. Like me, you may have met a few best friends there and kept them through the years. Now, think of possibly getting everyone in your classroom together in one room again. The odds of that are slimmer than a few years after you all graduated because life has dispersed each person, making it almost impossible to pull off.

I have had the privilege of sharing life with some fantastic people, starting with my mother. Having gone through different educational systems up to graduate-level studies, I have become acquainted with people through my journey. In addition, I’ve attended multiple churches, been part of numerous choir groups, and made many friends—and some non-friends in my short journey.

People come, people go, only Jesus stays. Think of the different great men and women this world has seen. Think of the phenomenon, battles, and victories in history. They are all relics on which time and season ride; they are temporal. No one man, innovation, or greatness outshines the glory of the rugged cross on which the Savior of the world was crucified. While victories can become defeat and yesterday's glories become withered grass, Jesus lives and reigns forever.

Many people I’ve crossed paths with are now remnants in my imagination, just as I am in most people’s. As I journey on, I’ve walked away from people, and people have walked away from me. My presence in people’s lives has been as inconsistent as theirs has been in mine. My mother and a few other people are gone, and I’m left scrambling to fill the vacuums people leave behind in my heart. At no point in each move I’ve made in life have I been able to transfer the same group of people and life routine, except my walk with Jesus.

Christ in us is the only treasure that can move from one season to another and then another. It is the only relationship that can last beyond a lifetime. He alone is the constant and consistent companion. A man who limits his mind from accepting the gift of eternity freely given by Christ denies himself the rest and joy from walking with a friend who never leaves. Although he/she might spend his/her time here on Earth with a million people, they will come and go, but Christ remains.