Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Bon Mot Serenade - Day 10 - When I Arrive

Frustration and doubt are familiar feelings for anyone starting something new.  I've created a website with some neat capabilities for people wanting to find songs that correspond to specific Bible passages or topics: Grace Rocks Song Concordance  I've also done some writing, in this blog and a superhero novel for older teens and adults.  A creative person has to pause and wonder if that time was spent wisely, when no one sees my website, and no one reads my writing.

Is any one out there?  My writing is like the tree that falls in an uninhabited forest.  Did I make a sound if no one reads it?  Again, is any one out there?

Bryan Duncan shared some of his music through Twitter last week.  I was listening through the album The Last Time I Was Here when I heard the song 'Once I've Arrived'.  I had to camp out there.

His words struck me.

Somewhere beyond here
Is a dreamer's promised land
Faith is the road where without fear
I believe I'll understand
(Once I've arrived)


Once I've arrived... Where am I going, where are you going?  We think we've arrived  when we achieve a preconceived notion of success.  Maybe success for me is a best-selling novel.  How do you define success?  More importantly, how does God define success?  In God's eyes, where will we be when we have arrived?

In Genesis 12, Abraham was called by God to leave his father's house and journey to a land God would show him: a place of promise.  For Abraham, 'once I've arrived' was defined by where God took him.

Hebrews 11 summarized Abraham's faith.  Even though he didn't know where he was going, Abraham obeyed.  Upon arriving in the promised land, he lived as a stranger awaiting the fulfillment of God's promises.  The land itself did not signify Abraham's arrival, rather he looked to a future fulfillment in a city built by God.  Jesus is the foundation of that future city.

How will I know when I have arrived?  When I am right where God wants me to be, and living faithfully in that truth.  That means not letting discouragement cause me or you to settle for less than God's promise in our life.

One final note on Abraham's father, Terah.  We do NOT know if God called Terah to go to Canaan.  We only know, that he had it in his heart to move from his homeland and go to Canaan, himself along with his family.  But, he didn't make it all the way, instead he decided to settle in Harran.

We will never arrive if we settle for less than God's best.

Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:16 (NIV)

Once I've Arrived by Bryan Duncan from Christopher Redner on Vimeo.

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