Think of stepping on shore and finding it heaven! Of taking hold of a hand and finding it God’s! Of breathing a new air and finding it celestial air! Of feeling invigorated and finding it immortality! Of passing from storm and stress to a perfect calm! Of waking and finding it home! This world is the land of the dying; the next is the land of the living.
~Tryon Edwards (1809-1894)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
~ The Encourager, Hebrews 12
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Philippians 3
Oh beloved, it is true. We are part of His Great Commission. But often we, in the midst of the work He has given us, forget that there will be an even greater Consummation at the end of it all. We feel dragged down by all of the things that confront us.
And it is true that those things are there. However, in being buffeted by the turbulence, we can quickly miss the point of what we are doing, and even the reason that we face trials. We are not meant to conquer the trials, we are meant to have our egos and self-motivation conquered (even crushed.)
Oh, it is not that we are to be defeated; far from it. What the point of all the garbage in our lives is, is for us to find the actual and only path to victory. And, in fact, G_d makes it relatively easy for us by making life so impossible.
We come, rather quickly if we are honest, to the conclusion that Jesus was (is and will be) right. He is the Way. He is the Truth. He is The Life. And He has blazed the trail we are to follow. There is absolutely no way other than Him.
And so, like the farmer who has set his eyes on a landmark in the distance that he might plow a straight row, we set our eyes on our Brother who is already Home and seated next to His Dad. And while it may seem that He is very far away – and that the journey is long – The Light of His Presence is so clear and compelling that we feel Its warmth as though He were right with us.
He is.
Can we see it? Jesus is both with us AND also at the end of the journey. He is guiding the walk we are on right now in the present, and He is (right now) waiting for us in the future. He is wholly their/then, and here/now. This reality gives us even more confidence in Him, and makes our thoughts of trying to slug out a journey through life alone even more laughable.
So, are you feeling a bit like you are overwhelmed? Are you wandering a bit? Take a cue from the farmer plowing his field. Look off to the Landmark in the distance. But once you do, you will find that the Guiding Light you find is exceedingly closer than you first expected.
Tonight is your night beloved. Time to look to Him alone. Abandon all else.
