A recent devotion by Philip De Courcy referenced a quote by Thomas Carlyle which directed me to many quotes by Carlyle. I’ll never conquer the many books I should’ve read but I hope I am reading the best ones now on this side of Glory. The quote is as follows, “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.” I think of this in regard to projecting. Too much of my time is in considering the past and concern for the future but God has clearly put me in today for a reason (that goes for you too). I have spent more time this week packing for a missions retreat than I have been praying for said retreat. The suitcase was left near the door from a recent trip to see my family in Texas. The suitcase was right there. Packing was clearly at hand. The suitcase was in time and space where the spiritual things can be missed. That is practical but prayers are eternal. However, the person in front of me, those needs and needy in front of me, those are the things, I think, Carlyle is declaring. If God loves people as much as the death of His Son demonstrates, then we leave our homes to be with people. The number of those around the world who die in a 24-hour stretch is mind boggling. He is seeking the lost and we are on mission to be with those lost so that we will have the opportunity and courage to say the name of Jesus. From I Cor 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” I grew up in a post WW2 church with the anthem, ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ and other similar war analogies that may be lost on Christian musicians today. God provides glimpses of Glory, salvations, miracles, and changed lives full of hope. There is a war. But He has provided a blueprint in His Word of, “TTD – things to do” until His return. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Gal 6:9
