From Wanderer to Pilgrim

What is Faith?

Faith is one of the most central aspects of the Christian life, but what is it? A set of beliefs? A list of rules? Political opinions? Hopes and dreams? The life of Abraham can give us some insight.

Abraham is often called the man of faith and for good reason. He spent years wandering a land not his own, waiting for his barren wife to bear a son all because of God’s promise to bless him with land and nation, so that he in turn could be a blessing to all the world. Those are big dreams! What did he have to show for his faith in the end? He had one son, Isaac, who was born in the twilight years of his life, and one plot of land only big enough to bury himself and his wife. Big dreams. No big outcomes. Or at least that’s what it looks like on the surface.

Have you ever felt that way about your own life? Big dreams. No big outcomes. I know I have. I’ve prayed for people to come to know Jesus and they haven’t. I’ve discipled young men who refused to listen to wise counsel. I’ve tried to be faithful in ministry, only for the unfaithfulness of others to harm the very people I gave my all to serve. My life has been full of disappointments. I’m sure your life has too. When the discouragement sets in, that’s when I start to feel like a wanderer, traveling aimlessly through a land that will never be home.

Pilgrim or Wanderer?

I’m sure Abraham had moments like that. After all, when you look through his story, you begin to see that the man of faith was also a man of doubt. He didn’t always trust God’s promise. He was a wanderer too. Yet, even in and through the doubt, God’s promise remained. Through all of Abraham’s mistakes and missteps, God was faithful to pick him up, dust him off, and send him out again. But not as a wanderer; as a pilgrim.

A pilgrim is different from a wanderer. Both travel as strangers in strange lands, but a pilgrim has a purpose and a goal. A pilgrim is propelled by faith and hope. The book of Hebrews describes Abraham’s life like this: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb 11:8-10). So, Abraham had faith in God’s promise and that moved him to obedience. And Abraham had hope in God’s promise, which kept him on the journey even in spite of the setbacks and disappointments. Abraham was a pilgrim, not a wanderer.

So, what is faith? Abraham teaches us that it’s not simply a set of beliefs. It’s not a list of rules. It’s definitely not political opinions! Faith is what you put your trust in. Faith is the allegiance that shapes your whole life. For Abraham, that was God and His promises. Closely linked to faith is hope. Hope is like faith propelled forward, faith for the future. A pilgrim needs both. A wanderer has neither.

Life is full of disappointments. It always will be. We can’t escape the fact that this world is not as it should be, but like Abraham we can live as pilgrims instead of wanderers because we have God’s promise too. Our faith doesn’t rest in how well we walk the journey. Our hope doesn’t lie in the things that are passing away. No, our faith is in the Pilgrim that has gone before us and our hope is in the victory that He has won. In Jesus, God came to earth and lived the life of obedience and surrender that we were always meant for and died for the sin and brokenness we brought into God’s good creation. Jesus made a promise in the end that He would come again and set all things right. So, we can live as pilgrims because of the One who has gone before us and leads us in the way. Like Abraham, we look forward to the world only God can build, a world that will finally be home.

Home Coming

Like Abraham, it may not seem like we have much to show for our faith and hope, at least not in how the world measures success or greatness. But God sees things differently. God takes the long view. Abraham died with one plot of land and one son, but that son went on to have two sons, who had twelve sons, and those sons formed a nation, a nation through whom God came as the Savior of all the world! You may not understand what God is doing now, but continue on the journey dear pilgrim. You can trust that God is faithful. You can have hope in the home He is building. We can know that even now, through the trouble and the struggle, our lives of obedience will make a difference for eternity.