Autumn by the Lake:1869
by Jasper Francis Cropsey
Therefore we do not lose heart.
Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us
an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,
but on what is unseen,
since what is seen is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal.
- 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
...God, who gives life to the dead
and calls those things which do not exist
as though they did.
- Romans 4:17
Then He touched their eyes, saying,
"According to your faith let it be to you."
-Matthew 9:29
A month has passed since I boarded my flight from Manila to come here.
While I can think of a number of reasons as to why I am here, I realize that Abba Father alone knows the real purpose of my being here, at this point in time. But I have a sneaking suspicion that it has to do with things He wants to speak to me about - heart to heart.
One of the things I am really enjoying is the cool comfort of my "bedroom" - my home away from home. Located on the second floor, it affords me a beautiful view of the wooded area right in the back yard of my sister's home.
At nights, I open the window a bit to let some fresh air in. The night sounds that crickets and other insects make provide a different kind of music - the rhythmic pattern is quite amazing. In the morning, I am awakened by the dawn chorus that greets my ears - tweets, hoots, chirps, warbles, trills, and caws - such a delightful harmony of bird sounds.
What a joy to sit on the carpeted floor by the window where I have carved a cozy devotional corner for myself... the place where I meet with my God. My secret place where I listen to soft worship music, read His word, partake of Holy Communion, and write His special message to me for the day in my journal.
When the temps are low, I keep the window open for a time. There is a sweet scent in the air, and a gentle breeze.
Many times during the day, I come back to this special corner - to listen to music, or to read.
When I visited my friend Melanie last month, she gave me a book written by Mark Buchanan. The book, entitled Things Unseen, is without doubt one of the best books I have read lately. Not only is Mark a great writer, he also puts into words the very things that have been on my heart these past years.
It's been nearly two weeks since I began reading it and yet I am not even halfway through. I am slow reading it, savoring every word, drinking in every line. After finishing one chapter, I go back to read it again. (And no, I have not been paid to do a review of Mr. Buchanan's book.)
Things Unseen. The title alone speaks volumes. And it caught my attention because it is part of my top favorite Bible passage of all:
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,
but on what is unseen,
since what is seen is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal.
- 2 Corinthians 4: 18
When Ernie and I spent one year in Chiang Mai, Thailand, about six years ago, I came to understand what it meant to be homesick for my native land. It was also there that Abba Father began to speak to me about being homesick for my heart's true home - heaven.
In Mark Buchanan's book he writes of our inner longing for our final and eternal destination.
"Even in a land flowing with milk and honey, we live estranged, we dwell in tents... No foundation we lay can take away our sense that we're not home yet."
"Even in a land flowing with milk and honey, we live estranged, we dwell in tents... No foundation we lay can take away our sense that we're not home yet."
Surely the Israelites experienced this kind of longing first hand. After leaving Egypt they lived in tents in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. Each time the cloud moved, they had to be ready to fold up their temporary dwellings, and move with the cloud.
But it is so easy to forget... or to convince ourselves that this is home.
How easy it is to lose sight of the truth that this world is not our home.
Increasingly, especially in the past two decades when God began doing a drastic pruning job in my life, I have become aware of a longing in my heart for heavenly realities.
"Heavenly-mindedness," writes Buchanan, "is sanity. It is the best regimen for keeping our hearts whole, our minds sane."
I couldn't agree with him more.
I was 39 years old when my husband's business collapsed leaving us financially bankrupt after a life of ease and comfort. It was my first major wake-up call, my realization that God was calling me to greater things than just running an immaculate home, raising well-bred children, and having a secure bank account.
Reading John 15, I had often wondered why Abba Father would still prune the branch that was already bearing fruit. In the years of my pruning, I understood. Father is looking for more fruit - fruit that lasts till eternity.
The pruning process was not easy for our family. I had to go through major adjustments, and much of my pain was internal... a battle I fought alone, away from the scrutiny and critical judgment of so-called friends and extended family.
Then, five years ago, my beloved husband passed away.
Another branch bearing fruit was pruned. What a waste of good life. What pain it has brought my heart.
And yet today, I have come to fully understand.
This world is not my home. The Father, the divine Vinedresser wants me to bear fruit that will last forever.
Once or twice I have been called an escapist for viewing life this way.
"Be realistic. Accept reality for what it is," I was told.
But how does one explain something to those who are tuned in to a different frequency?
And so what a delight it was for me to read these words in Mark Buchanan's book:
"Things Unseen. God calls us to live among them, to set our sights on them, to treasure them against all sorrow, loss, doubt, disappointment."
"But isn't that escapism?" Mark Buchanan asks.
In answer to his own question, he talks about two different kinds of escape. "The first is the escape of one running away from life, who can't endure its disappointments and responsibilities."
"Things Unseen. God calls us to live among them, to set our sights on them, to treasure them against all sorrow, loss, doubt, disappointment."
"But isn't that escapism?" Mark Buchanan asks.
In answer to his own question, he talks about two different kinds of escape. "The first is the escape of one running away from life, who can't endure its disappointments and responsibilities."
The second kind of escape is the escape of the prisoner of war. "All he wants...is to go home."
"A remembrance and an expectancy - a groaning for home. A longing that sustains us no matter how dark it gets."
Beautiful!
A longing for things eternal is the second kind of escape. I am like a prisoner longing for home.
I can't get over the fact that someone is putting words to the very things that are within my heart.
A longing for things eternal is the second kind of escape. I am like a prisoner longing for home.
I can't get over the fact that someone is putting words to the very things that are within my heart.
And so, here I am. Sharing another life lesson for the month just ended: Heavenly-mindedness. Longing for Things unseen. Escape from reality.
Because if we are not careful, reality can truly be a day-to day prison.
The self-effort and the self-provision...the cares of this life, the uncertainty of it all...
There are two kinds of reality: the seen, and the unseen.
There are also two kinds of knowledge: sense knowledge, and revelation knowledge.
Sense knowledge is based on our five physical senses; revelation knowledge comes from a heart understanding of God's word and how it applies to our daily lives. Revelation is also given to the heart that diligently seeks God.
If we assess our lives based on what we can see, feel, and touch - on mere sense knowledge, then we are living only in the realm of the seen.
But my heavenly Father talks about another kind of reality - His kingdom that exists in the realm of the unseen.
Just because something is unseen doesn't mean it's not real...
So, it comes as a relief to me that there is really a literal escape from this seen reality in which we live our physical lives.
It is once again a choice we are called to make - which reality will define the way I live today?
I am, after all, not a physical being... made in the image of God, I am a spiritual being, called to live on a higher plane than just the physical.
A dear friend of mine recently discovered that her cancer has come back - and it's in her lungs, her liver, and her bones. When I first heard the news I couldn't keep back my tears. She is a beautiful woman, strong, and intelligent. I am asking God for her healing.
Someone in my extended family has continually refused to forgive me for a wrong I never knew I did. Refusing my overtures of love, she has rejected me, shunned me. And so, while I have not stopped loving her, I have stepped back, entrusting the situation to my Father.
Right here in America where I am at the moment... the shutdown is on its sixth day because the lawmakers cannot agree to disagree and come up with an acceptable stand for the sake of the general welfare.
The strange weather patterns are wreaking havoc on the atmosphere: high temps in one area, a severe snowstorm in another area when it's supposed to be fall and leaves have not even changed their colors.
And here I am undergoing dental treatment when I have long been believing for a creative miracle to happen in my life. Is this His answer and provision to my prayer?
It is easy to be disappointed... embittered... easily-angered... or afraid when things go wrong.
But I've been there before, and I don't want to go back.
God prunes and removes our branches of self-protection or self-provision that He may have room to enter into our lives, and provide a way out.
Therefore we do not lose heart.
Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us
an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
- 2 Corinthians 4:17
- 2 Corinthians 4:17
Another quote from Things Unseen: "Heavenly-mindedness...allows us to endure life's agonies without despair."
Self-focus makes one unfit for heaven. But heavenly focus, setting my sights toward home, enables me to be more patient, more kind, more loving, better able to withstand the disappointments in life, and accept the shortcomings of others.
It's not about me. Never has been.
It's about the life of Christ in me.
Inwardly I am being renewed day by day.
My speech is being refined. My goals are being re-adjusted. My flying instruments are being re-calibrated.
I am after all, being trained to live as a child of the King, a citizen of that eternal kingdom... learning to live for what really matters.
Heavenly realities are, in truth, just within my reach.
Sharing twelve life lessons on my 60th year:
