This afternoon, I found myself hidden, in a small patch of grass, mesmerized by the trees, the breeze, the heat & the deep hurt of a friend....of their deep hurt, and how I hurt because I know they hurt. As I sat, I looked towards the road, and saw this common sign "No Parking or Stopping."
I see these signs all the time, we all do & are often frustrated with the thoughts of "why not," or "it'll just be a second," or "someone else is parked there....maybe I can get away with it too." But today, as I looked at the sign, and thought about this woman, friend, co-worker.....I thought of how God often tells us that earth itself is a "No Parking or Stopping" zone.
Stay with me....it says in Philippians 3:20 that "...our citizenship is in heaven." Does this mean we're not made for this earth? We're made for something else, right? Heaven? To glorify God ultimately...but that earth, where our God has placed us, is just temporary, right? We're not supposed to just stay here. This isn't our end point. We can't just stop, or park here on earth....we need to keep moving...especially when times get bad.
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. SO we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16)
I do not appreciate the knowledge that the troubles we endure here, is "achieving an eternal glory"....I want the beauty now...I want to stop, enjoy the roses, whatever. Yet the truth is, that God is and will use these times to make His glory seem even more beautiful to us once we are united with Him. What we experience here, is temporary....it's something that will pass away, that we need to not stop at. We cannot allow these things to stop us....though we may want to...we need to remember the "No Parking" sign. This is not the end. There is more....Philippians 3:20 goes on to say "And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body."
These bodies, the ones we are wasting away in....the old, the fat, the frail, the weak, the worn down bodies that we are in...are only traveling clothes. There is more to hope for, though right now it is hard to see. It is painful to look for. But don't stop....keep going.
Alissa,
ReplyDeleteWhen you wrote this particular blog, and even today when I re-read it, I am reminded so much of the temporary nature of our life here on earth. Besides the fact that you quoted my favorite book of the Bible, I am very grateful for the reminder of the forward motion faith requires of us and the way we are to view every day from an eternal perspective and not just "stop" but keep going. I love you.
Papa