I’ve been reading a bit of the biography of Josiah Henson (The Road to Dawn). It’s the type of book that will simultaneously make you angry and yet hopeful at the grace of God. It’s eye-opening for sure.
Henson was a former slave who was freed on the Underground Railroad before there was one. He was a pioneer and his story truly did spark the Civil War. One particular section was incredibly frustrating to read. The biographer spoke of the strategy of slave holders to keep the slaves ignorant so that they wouldn’t develop ornery things such as hope. And it worked. In one particular section we read of slaves (Henson among them) who refused to pursue their freedom because they were too brain-washed by their present situation to see a future.
The slave master’s tools are merely borrowed from our enemy and the principal slave master, Satan. The old serpent traffics in burying our noses in the now in order to blind us to living with our future in mind. We often stay in the pit of now because we cannot envision or trust in a better then. This might be a wisdom in a world without resurrection. But we believers have a far greater hope than this. We believe there is a then which causes our now to pale in comparison (both in it’s joys and its pains).
Three Tips
I’ve found the advice of Stephen Witmer to be helpful. In his book, Eternity Changes Everything, Witmer lists three tips for helping ourselves remember that then is better than now.
First, “we should stay alert for reminders of the flaws of this present world.” We have plenty of fodder in our news to drive us to our knees and cry ‘Marantha!’. Rather than causing us to grab our pitchforks or our keyboards the flaws of our present world should remind us first and foremost that this world is not our home. We might still be driven to action but it’ll be action which comes from another kingdom and not one fueled by the hellish desires of those who want to make this world their home.
Secondly, “we should allow God to use pain and inconvenience in our lives for the good purpose of redirecting us from this world to the next”. Witmer here quotes Calvin and reminds us that the trials in our life are meant to purge us of worldliness. Our trials in life are “never spiritually neutral”. They will either cause us to dig our claws into the things of this world or to view them rightly in light of eternity.
Lastly, “we should simply begin to live as though the new creation will come”. Here Witmer challenges us to do something this week that we wouldn’t do if we didn’t believe we were headed for a wonderful new creation. He suggests things like writing poems and helping neighbors. (There is also far more practical help on this point in Witmer’s book).
I think I’d add to Witmer’s list the cultivating of a relationship with Christ. When my wife and I were dating I absolutely hated when she had to go back home for the summers. The more I grew in my love for her the more restless I was to be back with her. It’s the same thing with Christ. Though we certainly are still in union and He has not left us as orphans there is still a groaning for the experience which awaits us in eternity. The more our love for Christ is fanned into flames the more we’ll have a healthy longing for the future.
Witmer’s book is a great read: Eternity Changes Everything.
So is The Road to Dawn.
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