The Undiscovered Country

For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. Philippians 1:23-24

Confession time. When I was an English major in college, I studiously avoided Shakespeare. I even took a complete course on Chaucer and had to read the Canterbury Tales in Middle English for crying out loud, but I never took a class specifically on Shakespeare.

Now I wish I had. I still find his works somewhat intimidating, but I see the beauty; I see the genius. I haven’t read too many of the plays in their entirety, but recently I read Hamlet’s “To Be Or Not To Be” soliloquy, and I was reminded why Shakespeare is one of the greats.

There was one line from that speech that I was still thinking about the next day. Hamlet was considering suicide and had a very wrong view of life and death, but he did make at least one point that I think we can all relate to. He said that when life stinks, we might think we prefer “the undiscovered country” of death, until we consider that we don’t know precisely what will happen after that, and so we would

“rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of.”
Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1

And I would say this is true even if you take death out of the discussion. Sometimes we continue living in unhappiness, dysfunction, and even sin rather than journey to “the undiscovered country” of living according to God’s wisdom. We choose to accept the known level of pain because we can’t envision anything else, and sometimes we simply don’t want to change. Our instincts tell us it will be too difficult.

Satan wants us to believe it will be too difficult and too painful. But some things aren’t as hard as we think they’re going to be, like college courses in Shakespeare; or that social event we dread because we don’t know quite what it’s going to be like or who will be there, but then we really enjoy it and are glad we went.

But sometimes change IS difficult and painful. We may get so miserable in our current state that we take a step or two toward change. But then we feel that resistance. We feel those uncomfortable feelings of unfamiliar territory. And so we retreat. We “change back.” We decide, either consciously or (often) subconsciously that we can accept our current condition after all. We would “rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of.”

If we were honest with ourselves, we would have to acknowledge that if, rather than retreat, we would stick with God’s plan and labor on through to the other side of the difficulty, things would be better. A woman in labor has sorrow, but “when her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy,” (John 16:21 NLT).

When we let our sin or our pain or our hurt feelings or our pride or anything at all prevent us from getting on and staying on God’s path, we are robbing ourselves of joy. God’s path isn’t truly an undiscovered country. He’s shown us in His word where it leads, and if we’ll look around, we can see it in the fruit of the lives of faithful Christians. It isn’t about perfect circumstances. It’s about the internal blessings of fellowship with God.

And death, though it maybe an undiscovered country, is not a total mystery. God has revealed enough for us to prepare for what lies ahead. And Jesus has been there before us. He has defeated death.

Sometimes we’re afraid to do something different because we’re not sure the outcome will be worth the effort. But the blessings that come from doing things God’s way are always worth the cost. Even through the valley of the shadow of death, we need not hesitate, for He is leading us to a country called Paradise.

For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Romans 14:8

by Christie Cole Atkins

Dear God, change is so difficult, and yet I know that if I will surrender to You, You will be always making me more and more like Christ. Remind me of the promises and increase my faith so that fear of the unknown will not keep me from growing into the person You created me to be. In Jesus’s name, Amen.