“It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt. He was not afraid of the king. Moses kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.” - Hebrews 11:27

“And even when he reached the land God promised him, he (Abraham) lived there by faith–for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent.  Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God….All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth.” Hebrews: 11:13

“…They placed their hope in the resurrection to a better life.” - Hebrews 11:35

Psalm 83 says “Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” I know I’ve blogged about this before, but a different angle on it struck me today.

Pretend for a moment that you gathered 50 of your Christian friends in a room together. You sat each of them down and one by one asked them the following question:

“What is God’s destiny for your life? Where do you sense that God is calling you?”

We’d probably get very similar answers from the majority of them.

“Well, I’m patiently waiting on the Lord to release me into full-time ministry as a (…pastor, youth leader, work for a church, etc.)”

“Eventually, I’ll be overseas on the mission field preaching the gospel to the people the Lord’s given me His heart for.”

“My destiny is to have a big ministry, write books, speak itinerately, and change lives.”

Now, perhaps few would have the last one, but I know I would probably place many, including myself, in one of the first two categories. And are those statements wrong, are they untrue?

Heavens, no! Surely the Lord has called us to various positions, places, and ministries by His Holy Spirit for His glory, and I am in no way deemphasizing this. But what I want to say is this -  we have limited our destiny. We have shortchanged our calling. And our life (or lack of it) is the very proof of it.

Name one person in the Bible whose greatest goal had anything to do with something on this earth. Name one person in the Word of God that was commended for longing to reach the “end-all” in this life. Name one person in the Word who longed for a earthly destination of ministry as their ultimate, satisfying destiny and goal.

I’m hard pressed to find one, and that’s because the Word is too full of commendations of men and women who looked BEYOND the veil of time, BEYOND the veil of the temporary, earthly realities of space and place, and UNTO a heavenly reality of a Holy City, a place built by God for those who longed for something greater than their earthly residence.

A place BUILT by GOD. We’ve never seen such a place! And just barely thinking about it stirs fascination, stirs wonder, stirs curiosity and awe. We can’t imagine! Indeed the Bible says no eye has seen nor ear has heard what God has in store for those who love Him!

Friends, I say this because I’m a person who has struggled with making that first answer my goal, my destiny, the thing I’m waiting for, been excited about, and longed for. And that place is death. It’s been God’s grace to keep me from those things, lest I miss God’s best, a faith that is awakened to the fact that there is more than just a “successful ministry, life, and death”. In of itself, its nothing but an un-fulfilling expectation, a waking up on Christmas day with no presents. Let’s not be tricked!

Are you longing to go to the mission field? Good. But long more for your eternal home with Christ, live as a stranger and pilgrim wherever you are, and not only will you be more satisfied in God and God more glorified in you, but you WILL accomplish your temporary earthly ministry with far more effectiveness, zeal, and the heart of Christ.

Why? Because you simply can’t lead people where you aren’t going. If our ministry unto men is a leading unto where we think “we are”, knowing what we know and doing what we do, that’s simply going to leave them dry. Good heavens, there is more to the Christian life than knowing good theology!

Paul said “Follow me as I follow Christ.” That was his ministry unto men, to follow and yearn and long and seek the LORD. To be with Him where He is, to think on things above and set His heart on eternal realities and exceeding revelations in the knowledge of Christ, casting down everything else as “dung”. Interesting how Paul uses his strongest language ever when talking about his own works and activities (even in ministry) apart from the joy of knowing Christ.

Jesus said “The blind can not lead the blind.” (Luke 6:39)  Let’s ask God for the faith of Abraham, Moses, and the others in Hebrews 11, the faith that gives us vision of something more, and awakens our heart and words to others that actually leads people somewhere good. And lets live lives as pilgrims, not settling for our “earthly calling” as the “end-all”, but by faith and expectation (and experience!) of the greater that is to come!

“And even when he reached the land God promised him, he (Abraham) lived there by faith–for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent.  Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.” - Hebrews 11:13

A good place to start would be reading and meditating on Colossians 3 and Revelation 21, to get a picture of our calling and where we are headed in this pilgrimage of faith - to the Heavenly City, the New Jerusalem to live with Jesus and His new ages, heaven, and earth forever.

How necessary and purposeful is our ministry unto the Lord? Without it we are useless on the outside. It is the “necessary part” that won’t be taken away from us.  (Luke 10:42)

I don’t want to waste my life - living on the outside. I want to live, from the inside out.