An Urgent Visit
While living overseas has had its fair share of challenges, there have thankfully been just as many rewards. Perhaps the greatest thus far is that it has brought a lot of perspective on the concept of time and urgency.
I know that God has my family in Seoul for now, but I also know that being open for whatever God has in store always opens up the possibility of Him taking us somewhere else. And when or if that times comes… we will surely go.
In short:
- I am supposed to be here.
- I don’t know how long.
And because of that, how I steward my time matters.
In Genesis 47:8, Pharaoh asks Jacob a simple question, “How old are you?” But what we find in Jacob’s answer is quite profound and revealing.
Jacob answered, “The years of my sojourn are a hundred and thirty.”
What’s so amazing about this simple statement is not the fact that Jacob is 130 years old (although quite incredible), but rather the fact that Jacob used the word “sojourn” to describe his years and life. You see, the word sojourn means a temporary stay, or perhaps even better, “a visit.”
So Jacob is saying to Pharaoh, my visit here on earth is 130 years. Jacob had a proper perspective on life. He knew his life on earth was merely temporary, a visit… and he didn’t know how long he had.
In the same way, you and I need to live with that perspective. We need to realize that our time here on Earth is so short, and that we are merely visitors here. Because that type of perspective on our time and life changes things.
It drives us towards living with more urgency. It drives us to answer questions like, what is my mission and purpose? And hopefully with the answer, it drives us towards spending every day of our lives towards those ends and goals.
So whether you are a visitor in a foreign land… or living in the same town you grew up in with no move in sight, the way you view your time here on Earth shouldn’t differ.
The urgency and perspective should be the same.
Because I believe:
- We are supposed to be here.
- We don’t know how long.