A Better Country
“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 city.”
Hebrews 11:16
Colossians 3:1-4
When I was young, my Grandpa Roy would sometimes ask us to sing at church with him. One of his favorite songs to sing together was Sweet Beulah Land by Squire Parsons. I knew the song was about heaven but never understood why the songwriter referred to heaven as “Beulah Land,” and I never asked or researched to know why. I was simply satisfied to know the song was talking about heaven and knew my grandpa loved to sing it.
Over thirty years have passed since I began singing in church with my grandpa. The passing of those years has brought the blessings and trials of adulthood. God has blessed me with a husband and a family of my own that have filled my life with happiness and purpose. Our daughters have given us so much joy every day. Of course, in the years of raising our daughters, there have been the common challenges that all parents face.
But, recent years have been the most difficult. The loss of loved ones has brought the kind of grief that we’ve never faced before; a grief that at times can be emotionally crippling. The constant strain and worry of disease with no healing in sight is draining to the point of overwhelming fear and mental exhaustion. The pain of broken relationships despite the strong desire and efforts for reconciliation brings deep hurt. We often worry that the decisions we make will be the wrong ones and we stress over the details instead of leaving it with God in prayer. And then sometimes we can feel as though God must not be hearing our prayers because we’ve prayed repeatedly and there is still no change in our circumstances.
But Scripture tells us in Proverbs 15:29 that God “hears the prayer of the righteous.” We can trust that God hears our prayers and listens when we cry out to Him. According to Psalm 34:18, God also has compassion on us when we are hurting. “The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” How does knowing and believing truths such as these in His Word influence how we handle our struggles daily?
A few years ago, when helping our daughter through a very rough patch with her auto-immune disease, the Holy Spirit impressed Colossians 3:1-4 upon my mind and heart. “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
I knew I had to focus my mind daily on heaven so the afflictions of life would minimize. The reality of the pain and trials we face every day will still be there and we will still struggle. But there is peace that comes when we keep our eyes on the reality that there is a better country than where we are currently living. For the believer, there is a better country where we will one day abide forever. But how do we endure through the storms of life to ensure that we will reach this “better country?”
In Romans 15:5, Paul calls the Lord “the God of endurance.” This title is proof of where our hope is found. Our hope for eternity with Christ cannot be found in our efforts, abilities, or willingness to endure to the end. Our hope is found in God’s unwavering, commitment to never leave or forsake us. His work of grace is complete. It is finished. In this life, there will be times when we forget who we are and live as though grace isn’t complete. We will go through times of discouragement and try to give up on what God has called us to. There will be times when we want to rebel. But endurance to the end demands perfection. None of us are there yet, so we must look beyond ourselves for hope. We must look upon Christ’s finished work upon the cross of Calvary. In His strength, we can be faithful even until the end. Our perseverance rests on Christ. He will guide us and keep us on the narrow path.
And so, thirty years after I began singing that song Sweet Beulah Land with my Grandpa, I finally decided it was time to know why the author of those lyrics referred to heaven as “Beulah Land.” Isaiah 62:4 (King James translation) says,
“Thou shalt no more be termed forsaken; neither shall thy land anymore be termed desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.”
According to this verse, Beulah is the name applied to the land of Israel or Jerusalem, possibly as referencing future prosperity. It is a feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning “bride” or “married.” Beulah is also an idyllic land near the end of life’s journey in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.
Just as Christian’s character in The Pilgrim’s Progress, our journey to our eternal home will be wrought with peril and danger. But we can trust that amidst these trials, we will grow evermore like Christ, and we will endure through His strength as He leads us every step on the way to the Celestial City.
What joy and peace there is in knowing we have hope of a “better country.” We can live each day in the glorious truth that one day soon the burdens of this life will fall off our backs and be swallowed up in victory, never to weigh us down again. Then, we will be forever home in that sweet Beulah Land with our God who loves us so!
Sweet Beulah Land
Written by Squire Parsons
Verse 1
I’m kind of homesick for a country
To which I’ve never been before.
No sad goodbyes will there be spoken
For time won’t matter anymore.
Refrain
Beulah Land I’m longing for you
And some day on thee I’ll stand
There my home shall be eternal
Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land!
Verse 2
I’m looking now across the river
To where my faith shall end in sight
There’s just a few more days to labor
Then I’ll take my heavenly flight.
