We are beset round about with trials and troubles in this life on earth. The struggles that overtake us seem multitudinous and overwhelming, and it is difficult to discern the good from the best, and likewise the will of men from the will of God. But in it all, there is a shining light that comes to shed its warmth on the coldest difficulty we face.
We do not exist to live for this world and the things in it. We exist to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Our ultimate destination is glory, and we reach glory, in God’s providence, by walking an earthly path. On this path are so many distractions from our real destination. There are things for which we must take responsibility pertaining to the physical realm, but we ought not to become absorbed in caring for the things of this world. “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” -Matthew 6:31-34
It’s difficult and often painful, this severing of our thinking from the things that we can see, yet we know that we are chosen “to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” -1 Peter 1:4 The life of Moses offers us an almost incomparable example of faith in God, who esteemed the reproach of Christ to be of greater value than all the riches of Egypt. There is great treasure to be had in glory for those who persevere in the face of faith-defying troubles. We can rest in the knowledge that this world is not our home, and there is unspeakable joy in living for the end of the journey and the King who has laid out our life’s course.
At the end of our pilgrimage, it will not matter how many earthly sorrows we endured, how many burdens we carried, or how great was our suffering. What will matter is that we have been conformed to the image of Christ, that we ran our race with endurance, that we looked unto Jesus who is the Author and Finisher of our Faith. When the sum of all things is taken, it will be glory to have borne our crosses well, to have maintained our steadfast gaze on the things of God, and to have pursued those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. “To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” -Romans 8:6
