Putting on That Old 45

Tonight I was writing a note of encouragement to someone who just lost her sister. As I was doing so, my husband put on one of my dad's old records that I didn't even know we had. The oldie, "Last Kiss," began to play. It was a song that my dad and I always got excited about when it came on the radio and called, "Our song," because we always sang it out to the top of our lungs in the car together. Funny thing is...it's a sad, depressing, and not so theologically correct song. But it was ours, nonetheless.

Anyway, I just thought to myself, "Wow, that was kind of a nod from God." He knew that I needed encouragement and reminder of joyful times with my Daddy even as I was trying to encourage someone else. He knew that I needed the reminder that the suffering I saw my dad go through was not in vain. It was to serve a greater purpose. It was for this reason...

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-7.

It's not about us. It's all about Him. "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."- 1 Peter 4:13. As strange and dichotomic as that sounds, it's true...there is joy and fellowship when we participate in the sufferings of Christ. Why? Because it all leads back to the fact that He is weaving a gorgeous portrait and landscape of glory. It's for himself. That sounds selfish, huh? Not at all. It's for himself, but He graciously offers the gift of dwelling in His glory to us. I can't wait for those clouds to be rolled back as a scroll some day and for my faith to be made into sight.

Great. Is. His. Faithfulness.

The Road Home

Recently I was able to go to the beach with my family. It was an amazing time of relaxation and bonding. The trip there was full of excitement and anticipation. Yet, after a 10 hour trip back from the beach to a pit stop with another 6 hour trip home ahead of us, it seemed like it took ages for us to get home. The thing is...the entire trip home was less than a full day.

As I rode in the passenger seat, gazing at the open road ahead of us, I thought about how this trip compared to our journey to our true home...Heaven. Life is full of anticipation and excitement. But...our heart longs for more than the journey. It yearns to be home...in a place of settlement and consistency.

Life on earth is a dear blessing from the Lord to allow us to magnify Him. Sometimes we feel like it's about us and the journey we are on. Yet, it's not. It's all about how we exist to bring Christ glory. He has already made our travel arrangements.

We may be going through a trial that makes us feel discouraged or worried. Could that be an event that catapults us toward putting our trust completely in the one we claim to be Lord of our lives? We may feel tired. Maybe that's a circumstance given to us to remind us that our Heavenly Father is so good and gracious that He offers rest to those who are weary that come to Him. Along the road of life, we may feel like we need a vacation... but maybe that's just an opportunity to recharge and allow our minds to be reset with the perspective that should have been in our foreground all along.

In this world we are surrounded by unsettling events and inconsistencies. But, there is someone who is absolutely constant surrounding all of those episodes and holding all things in order no matter how chaotic they may seem from the seat we are in on this drive home.

The road home is shorter than it seems. The eyes of our heart tend to drift off of the keeper of the beautiful abode that awaits us. I don't think that God intends us to wish our lives on earth away by any means. We are to be joyful and thankful for the gift of life on earth with which He has blessed us. But, He does set eternity in the heart of every person. That's the longing that I'm talking about. It's a homesickness. I thank God for the journey of glorifying Him despite my imperfections. But, I long for the day that I can join loved ones who have already rung the door bell of Heaven in glorifying Him in Glory. There really is no place like home.