Day 2771 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Hebrews 13:14 NIV

Enduring. I think that's one word that much of humanity has all but forgotten about. These days people are chasing the temporary thinking that the journey to obtain it will last forever. We've all decided to settle for things that are nothing but a vapor. And yet, we've fallen for this shortsighted lie that tells us that everything we see, everything we have, everything we want in this world will last forever. And when our minds accept that fallacy, we allow our eyes to stop looking further ahead.

Yesterday we discussed the Israelites being sternly invited to leave Egypt because they'd worn out their welcome through the unleashing of God's wrath. God severed all ties to Egypt and set His people free from their lives of enslavement in a foreign land far from home. It took a while to get there, took some rather eye-opening plagues and terrifying displays of power for the Egyptians to finally let go, but that's how our God works. He will do whatever it takes to lead us where He wants us to be.

And yet, we don't often have that same kind of perseverance and unrelenting determination. In fact, we're much like those Israelites all those years ago. God sets us free from something that's been enslaving us, displays His awesome power so clearly in our lives, and begins leading us away from where we don't belong toward a place we don't deserve. But rather than keeping our eyes fixed on the horizon and our hearts set on trusting His promises, we start looking back.

It's truly amazing just how quickly we forget our misery. As soon as the chains are gone, the bruises are healed, and the memories have faded a little, we forget how miserable we were. Humanity has almost this innate inability to remember misery. No matter how painful, embarrassing, unfortunate, or scary something may have been, we manage to find a way to convince ourselves it's better than the uncertainty that's required to move toward something new. I don't know if we're just really adverse to change, have a serious inability to trust, or just kind of like being miserable. But whatever the reason, we can't seem to get rid of this idea that the past is better than the future could ever be.

Do we not understand what faith really is? It's letting go of what we have only to take hold of something we can't fully grasp. Faith requires us to forget everything we've known and walk into something we can't really understand. Faith is a desert. Behind us lies the lives that we've lived, the mistakes we've made, the slavery that we've endured. Ahead lies nothing but a hope, an idea, a chance. And in the present, we find this middle ground where while what lies ahead seems wonderful, the journey is hard and rough and takes time. And so what's behind us doesn't seem as bad as we thought when we were there.

It's like we're all born with Stockholm Syndrome pre-programmed into our hearts. We've forgotten that we don't belong here. We've forgotten that this is the land of our enslavement. We've lost sight of the reality that we're still stuck in Egypt as sin and wickedness control our minds and lead our hearts in so many wrong directions leading to so many mistakes and so much misery. We've forgotten that feeling of our hardened hearts starting to melt as our minds started to sense that we're not as free as our sins have told us we are. We forgot that our shame and guilt became so crushing that we hit our knees and cried out to this hope that we'd heard about.

Then an amazing thing happens: He answers! He comes running to break our chains and set us free and help us find our way to a better life where we're no longer slaves to sin and wickedness but finally see that His promise is everything we could ever hope to find. And He leads us down that desert road toward that promise, but with each step we feel the sting of doubt grow heavier. We start wondering if it's worth it. We start looking over our shoulder to see what it is that we're leaving behind only to be led into a wasteland where all we find is more that we need to leave behind.

Just like those Israelites in the desert, we whine and complain and doubt and gripe and let our fear of change and effort force us to actually consider breaking back into the prisons that God's just led us away from. We forget that home isn't behind us but ahead of us. Egypt isn't where we belong. This world isn't where we're meant to stay. And no matter how long these lives may seem, they will end and we'll finally see that fact for ourselves. This ain't home! So home must be somewhere else.

And wouldn't you know it, but the One who created all of this and designed all of this and knows more than we could ever pretend to know is also the One who knows the way home. In fact, He sent the Way to find us and lead us that direction through a cross. And yet we still tinker around with the sins that want nothing more but to keep us in chains convinced that we're free.

Friends, when will we stop living as if we belong here? When will we stop thinking that all of this is enduring? When will we finally understand that even the desert has an end? Yes, leaving behind the lives we've always known is highly uncomfortable. Making all these changes and letting all this worldly stuff go isn't easy. And following God through the desert between earth and Heaven is foreign and strange. But there's a purpose. It's to help us see that we have to lose this world in order to finally realize what we've been promised.

Enduring. That's what we have in Christ. And it's something we cannot possibly find in a world that's passing away. So what are we holding onto? What are we afraid to leave behind considering that none of this comes with us? Why are we willing to potentially miss out on the Promised Land in exchange for running back to the comfort of our sinful ways? Because it's hard? Because it's scary? Because it leads us through a desert that strips away everything we don't really need yet remain convinced we simply must have?

Friends, look ahead. Not to the next few days of more uncertainty. Not to more sand and more suffering and more wandering. But look even further past all that. Look to the promise we've been given. Christ gave us His word that He has gone to prepare a place for us with Him in Heaven where nothing is temporary, no pain exists, no shame is welcome, no guilt remains. What does this land have to offer that comes anywhere close to competing with that?

Sure, it's a distant hope at the moment. It's an idea that seems to remain years away. Heaven is something we cannot see, or imagine, or even know for sure is really there. That's faith folks! It's trust in the unknown, the unseen, the unimaginable. Just remember what our Savior told us, "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." We don't need to see what lies ahead to trust that it's worth the arduous journey to get there. We just need to believe.

As I said yesterday, we have to stop being so short sighted. These lives are long, but they're not permanent. Please don't plant roots in this world only to have to leave them behind one day. Here we have nothing that can ever possibly last because we simply cannot stay forever. So why not look ahead to the possibility of something else? All we have to lose is our worldly chains. And all we have to gain is everything!

#LeaveNoSoulUntold