Stranded In Time

Belong to Eternity but stranded in Time. These are such picturesque words!

It is that fragile balance of the “already, but not yet.”

His promises are ours now, but there is a Day coming when we will experience them in a richer fullness. For example, Jesus already overcame death through His resurrection. I rejoice for what it means in my life now and the power of the cross today. And yet! There is more coming! One day death will be totally destroyed! Never to exist again.

I don’t know if Sue knew this song by Michael Card, but she definitely used this phrase a lot with me.

“Thumbs, I never wanted you to feel all this stress. All I ever wanted for you is to have joy in the journey.”

I wish I could tell her what I have been discovering, and I’m using that word, discover, in the way that you would discover with unexpected delight that there are real living sand-dollars lying on the beach at your feet…

I am discovering the quietness of the sand against the roar of the ocean. Discovering that rooted feeling of the sand between my toes while at the same time losing myself gazing into the endless horizon. Discovering that piercing sorrow and exhilarating joy definitely can exist side by side in breathtaking harmony like the sand and the sea.

“There is a wonder and wildness to life…”

That feeling of belonging to Eternity which fills us with unfading joy, but at the same time realizing that in this given moment we are stranded in Time, a place that holds sorrow.

And somehow, in some way, by the Lord’s grace, I feel like I’m coming through while reaching forward to Eternity with my own face tipped upward to catch the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ in a way that I’ve never experienced before. 2 Cor. 4

He IS the light we can love on the way…while stranded in Time.

Belonging to and looking forward to Eternity…we find joy in the Hope of the Glory of God!

Romans 5 puts it this way. “Since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” NLT

So, friends, keep looking forward and upward!

Here are the full words of the song by Michael Card.

“There is a joy in the journey,
There’s a light we can love on the way.
There is a wonder and wildness to life,
And freedom for those who obey.

All those who seek it shall find it,
A pardon for all who believe.
Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind

To all who’ve been born of the Spirit
And who share incarnation with him;
Who belong to eternity, stranded in time,
And weary of struggling with sin.

Forget not the hope
That’s before you,
And never stop counting the cost.
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost?”