Anticipating the Not Yet - Treasures of Faith - Week 9 Day 6

TODAY'S TREASURE

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Hebrews 11:39-40

Transcript

Anticipating the Not Yet

Chuck and Sharon Betters

Today’s Treasure

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Hebrews 11:39-40

In the darkness of our grief, we longed for heaven and often started the day thinking, “Lord Jesus, this would be a good day for you to come. Please come soon!” As we have walked through our own broken world and shared in the suffering of those close to us, we have often questioned why God has not yet sent Jesus to take us home. As I prayed about this one day, I read: 

“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:39-40

This Scripture gave us a new understanding of God’s love for His children. It reminded us that the picture is not yet complete, God has planned “something better” for us. One day, the acute sense of loss we now feel will be gone forever because, together with our son Mark and all those who, by faith, came before us, we will finally be restored, “made perfect.” This passage gave us a clearer understanding of God’s timing and His purposes, and it comforted us. We feel incomplete now, since we miss our son terribly, but this is only because the work God is doing is still in progress.

For the moment, one of our children is missing from us. No matter how hard we try to recapture the joy of our earlier years, there is always the shadow of sorrow and loss hovering nearby, a bittersweet aspect to every family gathering, every holiday. How we miss our son, how we miss our son!

Yet we are coming to understand it is not really Mark who is missing, it is we. We are the ones who are still en route, still traveling to our Father’s house. The empty place at the table is not in our house, but in His—the place He has reserved for us. 

Whenever our journey seems too long or too hard, we have found that just knowing our Father’s table is already set and the lamps are alight helps us keep moving forward. We are able to persevere because we know there will be no empty places at His table. No, no more empty places. For on that Day all of our loved ones, all of those who have trusted in the Lord, will be forever together, forever home—home!

LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT

So then, how should we live in this broken world, where thoughts of heaven so consume us? How does being “heavenly-minded” help make us “earthly good”? Paul regularly encouraged hurting believers to persevere by focusing on the resurrection and the promise of eternal life. His encouragement was always in the context of the kingdom work that must be completed by us as we journey homeward. He used strong verbs of action to describe how we are to walk in faith:

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13

“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. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16–18

Although we still long for His coming, we also yearn for others to come to know Him. Thus, while we wait for His coming, we have kingdom work to do. Jesus’ instructions to His disciples—and to us—are crystal clear:

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

The primary goal of every Christian should therefore be, in accordance with God’s expressed will and design, to seek to draw others to Christ.

PRAYER

O Lord, may Your love for me compel me to share with others the joy of knowing Jesus. 

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Adapted from Treasures of Faith by Chuck and Sharon Betters with permission from P&R Publishing

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