Hope

Living In Anticipation

The day before a vacation is always an interesting one. We rush around trying to complete everything that we need to get done so that we can enjoy the festivities. We look forward to what the following days will hold. We talk about our plans – what we will enjoy, what we will do, and what we expect  – and these discussions often fuel our desire for the coming holiday to approach even faster. Anticipating what comes next helps motivate us to do accomplish what we need to do today.

The same is true in our Christian walk. Looking solely at the trials and challenges of this Earth can fill us with dredge, much the same way that our never-ending to-do list can beget the same thing. However, for those that are Christ’s, looking forward to what comes next should motivate us to be about the work that God has called us to today. In the business world, it’s well known that that the days before a vacation are some of the most productive ones as people hurriedly try to clear their desk of lingering issues. For God’s children, knowing that He may call us Home at any moment should prompt us to heartily embrace what He has called us to while we are still here.

While this sounds easy enough, this type of anticipatory living can be difficult. The reasons holidays and vacations are so motivating is that we have clear expectations of what they will be like, and we can rightly anticipate when they will get here. Waiting for Eternity at times feels like it takes an eternity and many Christians haven’t taken the time to rightly understand the benefits of Heaven. Consequently, we fail to fully appreciate what we have to look forward to. However, unlike too many vacations, when we are called to depart from this Earth, Heaven will not meet, but will exceed, our feeble expectations. There will be no disappointments, no hassles, and no delays. We will be in the presence of our King. And that fact alone should prompt us to be about His work and to live this life for His glory.

 

How can we be more intentional about living in anticipation of what Heaven holds?

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Growth Hope

Unknown Path

It’s tempting  to look back on the lives of people in the Bible and think that somehow their walk with God was  “easier” than ours. We say things like, “Well God spoke to them directly.” or “Jesus was right there with them” and think that their lives of faith didn’t require quite as much belief as ours do. Of course, this is only because we know the end of the story and somehow when you can see the end from the beginning it is easier to trust in God. Of course, this is a vantage point that the point who were living these stories didn’t share.

Take Abraham for instance. Known as the father of the nation of Israel, we may marvel at God’s work in allowing him to have a child in an old age, but we rarely fully consider what it must have been like for a couple who had been infertile all their lives, to welcome a child into this world well past their retirement age. Nor do we fully think upon what it must have been like for them to set out on their journey to the Promised Land. Calling it the “Promised Land” surely sounds inviting, but Hebrews 11:8b tells us that Abraham began his journey “not knowing where he was going.” Can you imagine that? The bags are packed, the herds are fed and your neighbors ask you – “So where are you heading?” “I don’t know,” you reply, “but God will tell me when I get there.”  That requires great faith. That requires confidence in God.

The same is true for the journey that God has us on. Often, we don’t know where the road that He is taking us on will lead. We may feel like we are going in circles. We want to know the final destination and God is asking us to take the first step, and then the next one, trusting that He longs to give good things to His children and that while there may be tough times along the path, we will see His goodness in the land of the living. Where He is leading us is not only for our good, but, more importantly, it is for His glory. We can trust Him not only because He knows the final destination, but because He designed the path and He’s walking the road with His children.

It’s hard to face the unknown. Yet as Corrie Ten Boom reminds us we should “never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Even when we don’t know where we are going, may we faithfully walk with the One who is leading the way.

 

To you, what does it mean to faithfully walk with God even when we don’t know where He’s leading?

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