On The Road To Our Father’s House
Lisa Cooke

Matthew Henry, in his commentary on Psalm 16:11 writes

“…and look upon this world to be no more ours, than the country through which is our road to our Father’s house.”

I have been very interested these days in the concept of spiritual journey—the personally unique process that the Holy Spirit leads us through as we live out our lives on this earth. I like Henry’s quote because it expresses the idea that our lives are a road going somewhere, to the place that Jesus went to prepare for us (John 14:2), not just a short existence on this planet.

Our flesh or our spirit will guide each of our lives. The enemy of our souls will also attempt to exert his influence upon us. God has honored us with the gift of free will, and in turn, all throughout our lives, we have the opportunity to return the honor with the offering of our wills to the subjection of His Lordship.

This is our journey:

2 Corinthians 3:18
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (ESV).

All our lives, under His kind and patient hand, we are being transformed “from one degree of glory to another” as we make it our life goal to behold His glory. Under the unction of the Holy Spirit we cry out “Unveil our face! Open the eyes of our understanding!” and He hears us, granting us insights through a variety of teachers. His image, or likeness, is our map for this journey we are on.

I love what M. Robert Mulholland said in his book, Invitation to a Journey:

“When spirituality is viewed as a journey, however, the way to spiritual wholeness is seen to lie in an increasingly faithful response to the One whose purpose shapes our path, whose grace redeems our detours, whose power liberates us from crippling bondages of the prior journey and whose transforming presence meets us at each turn in the road…(it) is a pilgrimage of deepening responsiveness to God’s control of our life and being.”

It can be human nature to want to control our lives so we can feel safe, yet the more we know God, the more we understand that He asks for the relinquishment of that pseudo-security in favor of a solid trust in His Lordship. I have found in my own life that He does not immediately demolish every self-protective structure I have ever built within my heart in response to the “many dangers, toils and snares” I have encountered throughout my lifetime. Instead, it seems He patiently and strategically leads me into a dismantling process that will be on a holy timetable, not one of my own choosing. We learn to allow God to set the speed limit on our road to His house, and as on any road, the speeds will vary.

I think perhaps the simplest most flesh-defying thing our hearts can yearn for on our journey to our Father’s house would be “I just want to say ‘yes’ to You Lord.” Psalm 37:4 says “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.” What I love about the Lord is that He will actually give us desires in our heart that please Him, and then He will give us what He has put in our heart to desire. That is a beautiful expression of union with Him, which is our destination on this road to our Father’s house.

Each of us will have a unique journey through our days on this earth. Every person has the God given gift of free will with which they will make decision after decision. Some will choose to live under the Lordship of Jesus, others will live under the lordship of self. We will choose whether we live by the Spirit or by the flesh. Many days, we find ourselves doing both.

Our spiritual journey through our life span on earth is filled with invitations of the Holy Spirit. Invitations to spiritual growth, to experience the presence of God, to love like Jesus loves, to see and know the purposes that God has for each of our unique lives.