Daily Devotionals

Ready for the Trip

Posted in Trust/Patience

Scripture: “Blessed is the one… whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on His law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.” – Psalm 1:1, 2-3 (NIV)

 

When we adopted our son in 2009, our agency required a long list of prerequisites: classes and meetings and endless paperwork. But finally, one day, everything was complete– vaccines, visas, passports –we now waited for the call telling us it was time to go.

 

As soon as we received that call, everything would shift into high gear. Our bags needed to be packed and ready and our two children settled at their grandparents’. 

 

The wait began. 

 

We stared for hours at the two pictures of our six-year-old soon-to-be son. I folded and refolded the clothes we’d bought for him. We packed and repacked our luggage for the trip. We had prepared and now we waited.

 

Then, one day, the call came and suddenly the wait was over. We had prepared for this moment for months, and now it had arrived!

 

Life is a lot like this. A balance of doing and waiting, waiting and doing.

 

I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently: what is my ultimate goal, and am I doing a good job of both preparing and waiting for it?

 

Ultimately, our preparation and our waiting should be focused on loving God and others right now, as we look toward spending eternity with him.

 

The world promotes other goals: possessions, wealth, and status. Take all you can. Do everything you want. Get more now. But those things lose all meaning in eternity. 

 

We have a different goal– to spend eternity with our loving Lord. Our preparation includes dedicated time with him now in worship and prayer, meditating on his Word, loving and serving those around us. 

 

The Holy Spirit is doing deep work in us to produce the enduring spiritual fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22). We prepare and we wait as these eternal qualities take root in our hearts and invade our lives, bringing us closer to our everlasting life with God. Now is the time to prepare for our greatest journey, our ultimate joy!

 

Is your current focus preparing you for eternity? Are your bags packed and ready, waiting by the door?

 

Prayer: Father, show me the ways of preparation and waiting in light of my ultimate goal to spend eternity with you. Grow the fruits of the Spirit deep in me so I can prepare and wait well. Thank you for the opportunity to live for you, now and forever. Amen.

 

Submitted by Natalie Hall, Missionary