If you were at all interested in the Kansas City Chief’s playoff game against the Buffalo Bills, chances are you were on the edge of your seat the entire game. I ran home from church and donned my red and gold Chiefs’ shirt, made Dave and me some lunch and curled up on my living room couch.

My phone texts began dinging an hour before kickoff, and they continued until an hour after the game. As the game progressed, girlfriends were posting emojis of happy faces, then sad faces, then “Go Chiefs” emblems, followed by “I can’t take this!” shrieks.  There I sat, yelling at our players for not catching a pass or for missing a tackle and cheering for them when they made a touchdown or stopped the Bills from moving downfield.

Post game, I couldn’t wait to watch the highlights.  Now that my heart rate had returned to normal, I would be able to enjoy the good, the bad and the ugly because I knew the outcome. I had nothing to sweat.  No longer would I be upset when our defense failed to intercept a pass or sack the Bill’s quarterback.  When our opponents went ahead, I feared not.  I knew the final score: 32-29.  I still get excited when I think about that final minute of action.

When, for some reason, the television station showed no highlights, I was frustrated but I relived the game aloud, sharing with Dave my play-by-play review. He looks forward to my expertise.

I’m funny.

But when I woke up this morning, I had a different perspective.  Shouldn’t life reflect that same attitude so that we see each day, each circumstance, through “I’m not going to sweat this,” confident eyes?  You know, so we don’t get all worked up when things don’t go our way? After all, we know the ending.  Jesus will win; Satan will lose. Eternity will be more than we can ever imagine.

God, knowing most of us do sweat the small stuff, told us a few things about what awaits us.  Our eternal home is an actual place (John 14:1-3, NIV) where we will reside in real, physical bodies (2 Corinthians 5:1-5, NIV) and where we will experience everlasting joys, rewards, and treasures (Matthew 5:12; Matthew 6:19-20; Luke 6:23 NIV).                                                              

God allowed the apostle John to get a sneak peek into what awaits us.  From his time in exile on Patmos Island, he wrote his memoirs which are copied in Revelation 21:4 (NLT): He (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.                                                                                                         

And with that waiting all of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we sweat the small stuff…why?