Dallas Willard opens his wonderful and important book, The Divine Conspiracy, with a story of a fighter pilot flying on instruments. When she went to pull up, she instead flew straight down into the ground. She had been entirely disoriented and had been flying upside-down.
I'm currently in the middle of reading a tremendous sociological study by Melanie Phillips entitled The World Turned Upside Down: The Global Battle over God, Truth and Power. She very powerfully documents how "out-of-whack" the world is becoming from a Judeo-Christian (as well as a politically conservative) perspective.
But is all of this really new? The truth is, ever since Abraham left the city of Ur in Chaldea, those who choose to walk with God have had to become "sojourners and pilgrims" here on earth.
"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God" (Heb. 11: 8-10).
Abraham, the father of faith, demonstrated the essence of the faith journey. We must leave home (the familiar and safe) behind and strike out for a promised destination. This life is not about the arrival, the fulfillment, of those promises. Instead, it is all about the journey which can only be walked out by faith.
And so we are walking in the tension of the now and not-yet of the Kingdom. We are in the world but we are not of the world. We have received the incredible promises of God, but we are awaiting their complete consummation. We live between the first and second comings of Christ.
No wonder Paul cries out, "Maranatha!" (Come, Lord!) at the end of 1 Corinthians. And the book of Revelation ends with a similar cry, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev. 22: 20).
Been thinking about Abraham lately and his trust in God. After leaving Ur, maybe he lived in tents the rest of his life. The very land that Joshua and the children of Israel took through conquest was where Abraham wandered generations before, as a stranger. We may often feel strange and out of place now, but one day soon we'll be in our mansions (and everything that goes with that status) that Jesus has prepared for us.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Jerry. I've made many choices in my life and they've all been out of faith in God, in what I think He was wanting me to do. No regrets. Don't have a house, a big bank account, a retirement plan or even a car. I truly feel like a stranger in my own country and yet, in my heart, I enjoy great peace, satisfaction and emotional stability that comes from my Lord Jesus Christ. He has taken over every part of my life. Really glad He has and wouldn't have it any other way.
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