pilgrimage
by Elizabeth de Barros
Realize it or not, we live between times, between this world and the one to come.
As a Christian, knowing this brings great solace. It lifts my eyes to something larger, raises hope and oxygen levels. This epic backdrop renders a certain patina to everything of both shimmer and rust, while my groanings testify to a heavenly abode.
But life has a way of snagging us and carrying us across the waters until we’re too weak and bloodied to keep up the fight. We’re done. Finished. Cooked. About to become someone else’s dinner.
This is when a Biblical perspective helps.
♦ ♦ ♦
As a Christian, I live between law and gospel. In other words, I need the hard back of the law to push me into the redemptive arms of the gospel. Every day. If I take the Savior for granted, I nullify His message. But if I remain contrite, my sin is ever before me, and the gospel is no longer fuzzy. The Good News is good and new all over again, just as it was the day I was first cleansed.
I live between Eden and Gethsemane, but I’m on my way to Jerusalem, the gateway to Mount Zion; land of my inheritance.
I live between shock and awe. Shock at my depravity and moral bankruptcy; awe at His merciful provision for same.
I live between the friendlessness of the world and the friendship of God. It’s lonely sometimes, but He is equal to none when it comes to knowing me and loving me anyway.
I live between joy and sorrow. Joy because I belong to my Father in heaven, sorrow because His Name is constantly blasphemed.
I live between flesh and spirit. Daily I struggle against sin, but I overcome by His blood and an Ephesians 1: 19-21 kind of power.
I live between two hopes — the hope of Heaven and the hope of becoming more and more like Him. Whatever the way, I go from strength to strength and glory to glory.
I live between this world and the one that is to come. I despise Vanity Fair for all it’s noise and empty air, but when I run out of milk or need new shoes, I’m grateful I can jump in my car and buy them. I also enjoy a candlelit meal with my husband and a decaf latte with a friend now and then. As for cashmere and Italian leather, well, frankly, there’s no substitute. But my official citizenship is in heaven; the place of true riches.
My heart is set on pilgrimage. When the tension is unbearable, He brings refreshing.
And why Psalm 84 is the tune of my hum in between the singing of Amen and Amen.
finding the motherlode 
Col.1:17 …”in him all things hold together.”
Your “between” sounds like Atomic Glue.
That unseen stuff that holds everything together.
Your “in between” sounds like a very present
and good place to be.
Oh to be “in between”…there really isn’t any other substitute. For He is our all in all…the One who holds it all together!
8) Love it! …”I live between shock and awe.”
~ What good place of balance to pitch our tents, while remembering we too, are Rechabites.. commanded to lead always a nomad’s life; tent dwellers on a journey with God.
Thanks, Anita! You always encourage me in a thoughtful way…now I’m off to read about the Rechabites.
I too am living “between shock and awe. Shock at my depravity and moral bankruptcy; awe at His merciful provision for same.”
“We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved” (Rom 8:23-24).
Bless you Elizabeth, and thanks for reposting this, otherwise I would have missed it 😦
Diane,
And may the shock never go away, that we might hold Him in increasing awe.
-E
Yes! This is the essence of my days. Thank you for this encouragement. You’re so right….when the tension is unbearable, He is The refreshing.
Wow, apt descriptions of our daily walk.
In between, yet from strength to strength ever nearer to His glory! Blessed are you to trust in Him!
I’m totally blessed by your poetic prose!
Amen. I love how you used words to describe my heart’s cry today; I guess this the valley where we pilgrims stand until we reach our Heavenly home.
Thank you…
Hi there! Thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing your thoughts! I look forward to reading along with you and gleaning from the depth of insight that you’re gaining on another go-round in Sproul’s book.
I am so grateful that God has given us eyes to see His kingdom, albeit dimly. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:13, ESV).
I am so grateful that we are aliens in this world but, through Christ, no longer alienated to God. I love how Paul captures this in Ephesians 2, remembering the time when we were separated from Christ and rejoicing in the fact that we who are in Christ are now fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God!
May God continue to give you grace for the journey, sister! I look forward to walking with you for a little while. 🙂