Guys, I’ve got problems.
I’m dealing with a lot.
There’s a lot on my plate (not literally though).
I’ve been sick more often than I’ve been healthy.
Last month I had typhoid.
I do not get enough food.
I’ve lost 15 pounds.
Sleep has been, at most times, short and uncomfortable.
My sleeping pad now goes flat within an hour.
The struggles of the Squad are often and intense.
Busy does not speak enough about my life.
Everything I own either breaks or gets stolen.
Someone in Cambodia is now the proud owner of my iPhone 4s.
The list is long.
And I could go on.
And also, on.
But then I would have to ask myself where that list leads.
And to be honest.
It leads to me.
Ya know where it doesn’t lead?
Heaven.
Which is odd.
Because that is supposed to be where I am heading.
That is supposed to be the goal, the pursuit, the finish line.
Yet all those petty complaints I’ve listed point unabashedly towards myself.
You see, we’ve lost our focus.
Our eyes have wondered.
We have taken our sight off of Jesus.
And decided to stare fearfully into the storm around us.
We have forgotten that our destination lies beyond us.
In Heaven.
John 14:2
In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
1 Corinthians 2:9
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.
What?
Jesus has prepared a place for me in God’s house?
That is amazing!
Somewhere in Heaven, Jesus is walking around a room, stroking his beard,
And telling his angels, “Yah, put that there. Zach is going to love that.”
Or, “Make sure you put a window at the top of his rock climbing wall.”
Extreme Home Makeover: Heaven Edition.
I digress.
But the point is that you have a home in Heaven.
That is so majestic, that you can’t even possibly imagine it if you tried.
And Jesus can not wait for you to see it.
So chill out, MTV Cribs.
So then, what does this have to do with how we live on Earth?
Oh, I don’t know…Everything!
Philippians 1:21-23
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain…My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
Romans 8:18
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Guys, Paul got it.
I’m going to ask a couple questions.
Feel free to raise your hands if these have happened to you.
How many of you have been beaten or whipped until close to death?
How many of you have been shipwrecked more than once?
How many of you have been imprisoned for preaching the gospel?
If you’re Paul, you would have raised your hands for all of those.
And yet, He is the one saying,
“That’s nothing compared to what God is going to do through and for me.”
Paul had his eyes on Heaven and not on Earth.
Treasures weren’t objects to hold.
But fulfillments of God’s promises.
Now, I am not saying that there aren’t real struggles in your life.
There are.
I believe you.
But how many of those struggles would shrink if you were able to look at it from God’s point of view?
From a Heavenly mindset.
Answer: All of them.
There is so much more to life than you.
And there is so much freedom in realizing that.
Our struggles are nothing compared to what God is doing on this earth.
But the peace, joy, and comfort we receive from having our minds in Heaven will allow us to persevere through those struggles.
Philippians 3:20-21
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself.
You have a home in Heaven waiting for you.
Don’t get stuck here on Earth.
*For more encouragement on keeping a heavenly mindset, read all of Romans 8:18-27!*
UPDATE__________________________________________
The World Race
Catch me on Twitter at NinjaZachWR
or see my pictures on Instagram at NinjaZach.
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If you would like to check out my new blog, with everything from the World Race and all my missions since then and even now in Japan, please click on this link for my blog The Vagabond Missionary. Thank you always for your support!
