I love to travel. Every inch of this beautiful planet I see merely impassions me to see another.

Many years ago I thought it’d be nice to see the Seven Wonders of the World. If you’ve ever looked into that you know that such a designation is a tricky one to nail down. There are a handful of lists and the items on some don’t exist and the items on many aren’t exactly accessible to a Christian American citizen. Downtrodden. Well isn’t that too bad.

God entrusted me with the childlike wanderlust and the Seven Wonders among so many other impediments hinder the full reign of such enthusiasm. Have you ever felt a deep longing for something that it became painfully aware could or would never be satisfied?

So most of us know the story of Moses striking the rock he was supposed to have spoken to and getting his invite into the Promise Land clipped. Because of his error, God allowed him only to see Canaan from atop Mt Nebo but never enter it. He died upon that same mountain, on that same visit, having never stepped foot into the land he’d wandered 40 years trying to get to.

Fast forward. Jesus takes His three best buddies atop a different mountain, the Mount of Olives, that is very decidedly within the bounds of the Promised Land. During their visit, Jesus is transfigured and begins to glow, company appears from nowhere, and friendly conversations among old friends take place. The three privileged guests are startled to find themselves in the company of the greats of their heritage: Elijah and Moses.

What grace. What hope. What a sweet model of His everlasting provision and tenderness.

The land Moses never entered in this life, He stands firmly upon in the next. He made it after all.

From the Seven Wonders to the restored health to the cured ailments and perfect vision, from the unfulfilled longings to the life choices that weren’t chosen or were denied to the tender moments never known, our God is not finished with us yet. The greatest of this life is but a foretaste and introduction to the tender realities into which we will walk with the Lord. Every longing fulfilled, satisfied, inflamed, and perfected by and in the One Who Reigns.