Miss Liberty
Where there is no vision, the people perish…
(Proverbs 29:18 KJV)
Like many millions of others, my Norwegian ancestors came to America on a boat that gave them a passage to hope, grounded in a vision of great opportunity in a land that seemed almost mystical to them. They were leaving a homeland that could no longer support their needs for survival, to journey to a place they knew only by story and legend. Swedish novelist, Vilhelm Moberg, in a four-volume series of fictional accounts called The Emigrants, chronicled the similar movement of Swedes to America. If you are looking for some wonderful reading, give them a try.
All of those entering the country through New York after 1886, passed by the Statue of Liberty, which was located on a small island in New York Harbor, immediately adjacent to another island called Ellis. In 1892, Ellis Island became the first Federal immigration station and the nearby statue came to represent the hope of America – a vision of freedom that was worth sacrifice, and hard work; blood, sweat, and tears. For them, waiting was more than just sitting around looking for the sun to rise; it was wrestling with hard times on a daily basis in order to rear families and to build a future and a hope.
It was Scottish teacher and pastor, Oswald Chambers, who said, “Life without war is impossible…”(1) and in his terse way he puts in a nutshell what happens in the lives of all those who wait, meaning everyone. He goes on to observe that it is through opposition in both the natural and spiritual realms that we learn what life is all about – we learn to overcome. And it is in that Waiting Place that we find clarity, purpose, and destiny.
The idea of waiting inevitably brings up the question of pain and suffering in the world. Waiting is the time of life where purpose is revealed, but why does it have to be so painful? Volumes have been written, including the recent one by Randy Alcorn (see Part 4 of the discussion of the word, Come). I can’t even begin to summarize all of that except to say that it is through adversity in our lives that God shows Himself to be trustworthy, and we come to truly depend upon Him.
If we did not suffer, would we ever know hope? If we did not have adversity, would we ever learn to depend upon God, rather than ourselves? I am convinced, and I believe that the Bible teaches, that God is not just some remote, benign, allower of circumstance, as though our lives have unintended consequences that He did not expect. If that were so, then why should we ever turn to Him? Why ever seek Him?
Our natural state is to desire life without conditions, and success without risk. We often want someone else to do the heavy lifting while we enjoy the fruit of that labor. We want great accomplishment without failure. We want a world of our own design, without God to direct or constrain us until something goes wrong, and then we want Him to make it better and take the blame.
Jesus calls us to something else. He calls us to wait upon the Lord, and as we do so He promises that we will gain new strength. Weariness will be replaced by the excitement of rising and soaring as if on eagles’ wings (Isaiah 40:30-31). In Hebrew, the word translated wait can mean to be bound and twisted together in expectation – to grow strong like a cord or rope.
That is the pathway of the seeker, the learner, and the disciple. The seeker is one who intentionally pursues the fulfillment of a passionate desire. The learner is one who perseveres in perfecting knowledge, skills, and understanding. The disciple is one who intentionally acquires the essential elements of another in order to influence outcomes in a fashion similar to his teacher. Each is motivated by the formation of beliefs, values, attitudes, motives and behaviors, which reflect something I will call the noble life – a life characterized by strength and honor.
So it was for the families of many nations who came to these shores, needy but willing, to build a new life in the shadow of liberty and in the power of freedom. So it could be for you and me, if we are willing. We are certainly needy.
We’ll pick this up next time.
(1) Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Grand Rapids: Discovery House Publishers, 1992), December 4.
Strength and Honor
Bill
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