Strangers in a Strange Land

I am truly a blessed fellow. I have a wonderful wife. I have good kids. I have great parents, good siblings, a really nice extended family. I have a pleasant place to live, sufficient means to survive, a job that not only pays the bills, but that I actually (mostly) enjoy. I enjoy general good health and a fairly comfortable life. Things are pretty good for me and I know it's all a gift.

These things can be dangerous. The Bible tells us that we are sojourners here, visitors to this existence. Paul calls us ambassadors for Christ. That is, we are residents of heaven on a temporary assignment here to represent Christ to the world. We are, in essence, outfitted with Earth suits to survive here while we do our job, but will finally be called home to our intended environment in the presence of God. The danger, then, is that when we get comfortable here, we tend to link ourselves more solidly to the world than to our real home.

We have a real problem with this, don't we? When things become unpleasant (you know ... like we're promised they will), we complain to God. We spend much of our lives struggling to become comfortable. Hard times make us ask hard questions, as if hard times shouldn't happen at all. We often think that difficulties in life are "unfair". We spend more time and effort looking for happiness than holiness.

The truth is that we are just passing through. There are genuine blessings here. God is good to us. He is good to us when He provides comfort and He is good to us when He provides trials. He gives us what we need. Our task is to enjoy what He gives us here without becoming too attached. We need to remember that this world is not our home. We're passing through. Enjoy what God gives and be grateful, but don't lose sight that this is the transient, and the permanent reality is up ahead ... not here.