Strangers and Exiles On The Earth

"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city."

My wife has recently written about hard things in our life right now that might make trust seem difficult. In reality trust wouldn't be trust if we had all the answers, but even more than that, this passage from Hebrews 11 reminds us of what's really going on and what our priorities are.

It is easy at this point in our journey to think we are alone, unique, or especially beset with trials. We are walking a path which does not allow our fleshly desires to thrive—and so feels difficult sometimes—but we are not the first to walk this kind of path. We are preceded by a "great cloud of witnesses" which have given up far more than we have yet been asked forego.

This Hebrews passage is one that comes to my mind whenever I am tempted to bemoan my situation.We are exiles here on this earth. We are seeking a homeland which is not here. We do have "the opportunity to return"—to establish myself in my comfort zone, establish myself in a nice little house and job and family—but we "desire a better country, that is a heavenly one." Therefore we have the promise that "God has prepared for [us] a city," even though we will have to die "in faith, not having received the things promised."

We are in a time of transition but there is a very real sense in which our whole lives on this earth are a time of transition. This earth, this age, is not our home. Otherwise we would invest everything in making our lives as pleasant now as possible. Instead we are seeking a heavenly country. We are seeking to be heavenly stock-holders, knowing that "where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also." By placing our treasure in heaven we direct our hearts to think beyond this life and the fleeting pleasures we give up in order to gain real, lasting ones.

The Bible says this has bearing on our relationship with God. If we place our trust in His promises, then "He is not ashamed to be called [our] God."The converse implication of that is that if we were to cling tightly to security and comfort in this life He would be ashamed to be called our God.

This is a scary thought. Much more scary than any loss of comforts, or even life could ever be. Imagine the Almighty Lord of Heaven and Earth being ashamed to be called your God…(Don't let this be you!)

Yet, if we trust Him we have the most glorious and reassuring thing that could ever be said to us: "Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God." Imagine the Maker of Heaven and Earth telling all of His creation that He is proud to be called your God?

How will God be proud to be called our God? By our magnifying the fact that He is all-sufficient which is done by trusting His ability to provide something better even beyond this life and giving up temporary pleasures with assurance that we will receive lasting ones in the life to come!

Our living in, and eventually dying still in, faith—believing that beyond this life are things that make giving up the greatest pleasures this life has to offer totally worth it for the joy to come—is the condition our God gives for Him not being ashamed (but rather proud) to be called our God and our receiving His promised city.

So when people ask us, What about your ideal job? What about having your own place? What about establishing yourselves? What about "thinking ahead?"We tell them, we are thinking ahead, thinking the most ahead. We are thinking beyond even this life and we're looking for a God who is proud to be called our God and a better country, that is, a heavenly one!