Just Passing Through - Martin Wiles

I am only a foreigner in the land. Don’t hide your commands from me! Psalm 119:19 NLT

I was passing through; I had no plans to stay forever. 

As a pastor’s son, I passed through many places. We passed through Hilda, South Carolina, and stayed for three years. Next, we passed through Jackson, Tennessee, where we stopped over for four years. Then we went to Cameron, South Carolina, where we passed through in one year. Finally, we journeyed to Orangeburg, South Carolina, and settled for five years. By the time the trip ended in Orangeburg, I had graduated high school. I thought I had finished passing through, but then God called me to preach, and I passed through some more places: Branchville, Iva, Harleyville, and Hodges, South Carolina. 

God’s Old Testament people passed through quite a few places themselves. They passed through four hundred years in Egyptian slavery. Next, they stopped over in Assyria for a couple of hundred years. Then they passed through Babylon for seventy years. But wherever they passed through, they never forgot where home was. Neither did they forget God’s commands and their responsibility to obey them. 

I’m not considered a foreigner unless I visit another country. God, however, considers me a foreigner regardless of where I live. I can travel the world and never find a place I can truly call home. My journey here is temporary. I’m just passing through. And when I leave on my final journey, I can’t take any of the things I’ve accumulated. It makes sense, then, that I should travel with a light load instead of burdening myself with things that make the journey unenjoyable. 

My passing throughs taught me to hold things lightly, even in many relationships, except for the one person who’d never betray or leave me.  Believers are just passing through earth to a new heaven and earth. Our priorities on our journey determine whether the trip will be enjoyable or depressing. 

Let loving God and people be the only baggage you carry as you pass through. 

Prayer: Father, thank You that when we have completed our passing through, we will be in heaven with You eternally. 

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Just Passing Through - Martin Wiles

When they walk through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings. Psalm 84:6 NLT

We passed through many towns along the way, but we didn’t plan to stay in any of them.

During the four years I attended college, my family lived in the Florida panhandle. Although we had an apartment and established residency there, we didn’t plan to stay once I graduated. We were only passing through.

Twice each year, we planned a trip to Greenwood, SC, to see our parents. My college town had no major interstate nearby, so our journey home took us along secondary highways. We passed through many small towns. Though beautiful, we didn’t plan to stay in any of these towns.

When I graduated, we moved back to Greenwood. We planned to stay there only until my first church called me to pastor. Yet, we didn’t plan to live in the town where that church was located forever—or in any of the other towns where I pastored churches. They were just stopping points along life’s way.

And so the psalmist said of the places the pilgrim passed through on their way to worship at the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. On the way, they passed through the Valley of Baca, or weeping, but joy came when they reached God’s house. The Lord’s strength assured they’d arrive safely.

Life is a journey—a temporary one. I often plan as if I’ll remain here forever, but I know better. Even if the Lord blesses me with many years, they pass swiftly … more so as I age. As I get older, I’m more aware of death and the fragility of life. I focus more on the lasting things than on the things that bring temporary joy.

Trials accompany me on this journey, as they have on my travels from one church to another and from one job to another. They are a part of life. For the weary pilgrim going to Jerusalem, God’s strength assured they’d arrive safely. And the same holds true in life. No matter the trial—no matter its intensity or texture—the strength of God carries us through when we set our mind on Him.

We should take life’s journey with eternity in mind, focusing on the things and adventures that thieves cannot steal, that moths cannot eat, and that the elements of nature cannot destroy.

Enjoy the journey, but remember where your final stopping place is.

Prayer: Father, remind us this life is merely a journey to our eternity with You.

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