I had a thought this morning.

We are not all okay.

In other words, we think this person or that person is doing well because they look happy.

Not true.

Everyone of us have something on our minds. A place in our hearts or minds that have this empty space of disappointment, sadness, loss.

Then I began to think about people who lived throughout the centuries and what kind of life they had. Particularly, I thought about the pioneers who explored and the settlers who settled. The day to day, mundane, unpredictable existence they experienced.

Their world view was limited. Each day they had purpose and found a life of contentment in what they did. How do I know this? Because it’s in all of us. The ability to be content in undesirable situations. God created us and he put it in us. Some call it human potential or resiliency because you don’t have to be a Christian to have it. Most of us have the ability to get up, brush ourselves off, and keep going.

Fast forward to 2025. Look at all we have. Now compare yourself to them.

Are we any different? Obviously, we have amazing advancements in medicine and technology. And certainly, that has impacted our physical and mental compacity to not only have knowledge, but solutions, and the ability to exceed in ways that our predecessors never had.

Yet, inside, we are the same. We experience all of the emotions to life’s challenges.

That is context.

All of my life, I have taken a step back to consider the men and women who suffered throughout the centuries. It has given me inspiration, courage, and perseverance. What God has put in all of us can only be enhanced by knowing him through the promises of the scripture.

It reminds me of Hebrews 11, often referred as the faith chapter; a list of men and women who endured suffering. They endured because they saw things in context – that their suffering and ultimate death was not the end. They knew that God promised what was waiting for them in eternity.

Then Hebrews 12:1:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us; fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Not only does remembering the bigger picture step us out of our small thinking, exasperated by our tendency to be overly focused on ourselves, but it gives us the reason for context: there is an end to the story.

Get context.