Vacation

Vacation. The word itself dusts off nearly-forgotten memories of family trips to the warm white beaches of Florida. Days packed with swimming, canoeing, walks, and tennis all end with six exhausted children sprawled out in every space the hotel had to offer. Perhaps one of the most special parts of that particular Florida vacation was that we stayed in a suite with more than one room (what luxury!) complete with a stove and a sink. At the time, to my twelve-year-old imagination, our week-long stay was a very long time and the hotel was therefore worthy of deep cleaning and decorating. Of course, in reality, one short week is nothing compared to the nine years I’ve spent at our current home. Our brief stay was certainly not worthy of the rearranged bedrooms, wall hangings, and décor that I was hoping to complete. In fact, it would have been absurd if I had spent more time cleaning and beautifying our hotel than the time I spent on our own house (and in particular, my messy bedroom!)

In a similar way, my permanent home is ultimately not found in this life. Day-to-day life makes my home here feel quite permanent, but compared to eternity the time I will spend is very brief. Between the dishes, little brothers, get-togethers, and studying, it comes so naturally to keep my eyes plastered on myself and accomplishing a task. Yet compared to the eternity we will be spending with Christ, my life now is not my permanent home. The book of Philippians emphasizes that our citizenship is in heaven. Paul says, “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain.” For me, this verse is one I don’t like to read—it makes me squirm in my seat and clearly shows my inadequacy. Some of the hardest things I need to “count as loss” are personal appearance and fun (especially movies). What a miracle it would be if those things seemed like “rubbish” to me compared to the glory of knowing Jesus!

In Philippians 3:20-21, Paul continues, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” “Our citizenship is in heaven” but too often a day goes by when I neglect to turn my gaze upward. And time and time again, I find myself putting much more time, effort, and thought into what I’ll wear the next day rather than focusing on Christ and what He has clothed me in: His grace. Like making it a priority to decorate a hotel room when a home awaits my attention, I am often sidetracked enough to go through a day without ever having my focus on Christ. I constantly need to be drawn back to Him.

My natural tendency, when I hear something challenging that I need to apply in my own life, is to attempt to change myself apart from the grace of God. I try, in my own strength, to focus on Christ rather than my circumstances. Of course, I am sure you can guess the results of my attempts. Nothing changes. As I try time and time again, I only became more and more frustrated with myself. Instead of my own strength (or rather, weakness), I need to trust in the grace of God, which is much more capable of changing lives. In his book The School of Grace, Reverend W. Hay Aitken wrote, “The crowning work of grace is to introduce a new nature of being, which is described as ‘Christ in us the hope of glory.’… He whose presence makes heaven, secures by his beneficient control the unity of our being, and as we abide in him, he abides in us, and we are able to regard all things as he regards them… It is not from your own natural temperament that you can gather strength to overcome your natural temperament, but you may believe in an in-dwelling Christ, and call him your new nature. …He shall, dwelling within thee, accomplish, as he has undertaken, what thou canst not do.”

So I still have quite a ways to go. I prioritize my selfish desires over “the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” too often. I ignore the blessing of being a citizen of heaven and instead act as if life now is all that matters. But by the grace of God, I pray that I will only try to change by the strength of Christ. God promises that He “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” What incredible grace is it that can subdue me to Himself! In the words of Jane Austen, that kind of grace is certainly “a happy thought indeed.”

Written by Lisa Moyer. For more articles by Lisa visit her blog at flowersofgrace.com