How long will be here? Where are we going? When we get there what will we do?
We’re pilgrims in a foreign land – literally, but praise God He’s provided a comfortable place of refuge for us to call “home”.
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| Temporary Refuge |
Our God is good – consistantly providing for us beyond our needs!
and it is.
James says that now we see in a glass dimly, and at times I find myself scratching at the mirror, desprate to peel it away. I want so badly to see face to face. Every experience just intensifies this desire. Sometimes I wonder what reality is – my mind and heart fail me time and time again. I interpret things wrong, others interpret things wrong, and it results in heartache and pain. More than once since we got married Steve and I have clung together, crying over the sin and pain in our own hearts and in this world. We long for the time when we will see Jesus face to face and we cry, “Lord Jesus, come quickly!”
And there it is. In a world where all is quicksand, fog, and a dirty, scratched mirror, there is a rock, a light and a fortress. God has not left us on our own. He is calling us to His kingdom of light, where we can find true life and light. We have Jesus, even in this place. We have Jesus.
That doesn’t stop the longing, though.
Philadelphia is a place full of pain. Recently we heard of a normal, public highschool here . . . of the hundreds of girls entering on opening day, approximately half of them were pregnant. Their boyfriends were off fooling around with any other girls they could pick up. Everybody seems to have some member of their family in prison, either for abuse, or some kind of public crime. There is always some kind of an upheaval in the city, some kind of racial thing, some recent shooting or break-in. I heard a pastor recently describe it as the “city of brotherly shove”.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s a beautiful city. There is art and culture, old architecture. A rich history full of famous people and places. And among it all lie the homeless, the middle class, and the rich who do not know Jesus. It shows.
There are people sinking in the quicksand. No matter how much they struggle they cannot get out. So they stop trying. They are sinking to their death.
There are people who are lost in the fog. All that exists in their world is themselves. They cannot see, blinded by the smog covering their eyes.
There are people who look in the dirty mirror . . . and forget as soon as they walk away that they are not absolutely wonderful and that there is a Jesus who longs to transform them into a treasure.
Even in your area. YOURS.
Who will help them? WHO?
