Canyon Ministries

Pleasant Inns

I was recently backpacking our Canyon Ministries Grandview Loop in the Grand Canyon.  As I finished scrambling down a scree field from the top of Horseshoe Mesa, I came upon a beautiful campsite at Cottonwood Creek.  The water was falling over a small waterfall and making a pleasant babbling sound.

There was a perfect spot for my one-person tent under a juniper tree.  This oasis in the desert made a dream campsite.  I settled into camp, listening to the album Hebrews by Psallos as I fell asleep.  Psallos is a band that takes books of the Bible and paraphrases them as they put them to song.  The song “By Faith” based on chapter 11 came on and talked about how the heroes of the faith died before they received the promises of God.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_vX302uU80

This song is based on Hebrews 11:13-16, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a country.” (ESV)

It reminded me of a quote from C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain, “Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.”  Cottonwood Creek was a nice place to rest after a day of backpacking.  It refreshed me and prepared me for the rest of the backpacking trip.  However, I should never mistake that for home.  If I’d set up my home there, I’d never have completed my journey.

In our Christian lives, we should never get so comfortable that we are not ready for whatever change God might have for us.  He may call you to something new in a new place.  It can be tempting to make excuses about the unknown or question how it’s even possible to do what God has called you to.  We must be willing to see those good homes, jobs, cities, schools… as pleasant inns that God brought to us to refresh us and prepare us for the next assignment.

We must be like Abraham who was willing to leave everything he knew to go to a foreign land because “he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”  Brothers and sisters, let us continue to live as strangers and exiles and follow wherever God leads.

Paul