I sat down exhausted to finally open my Bible after days of not reading. Life had just been too busy. Boxes to pack. Apartment floors and walls to clean. Suitcases to weigh and reweigh. Decisions to make. What would we need for these next 2 weeks before moving into our home in the States? What clothes should we take home so we have something to wear before we can go shopping for new clothes to bring back? Oh, and there are still gifts to buy for partners and Japanese snacks for the kids to fit in...
In the midst of the mess in my head and the mess all around me, my weary soul needs God's Word. This is what will answer the nagging question bouncing around in my head and hanging heavy in my heart over the last week."Why do we do this?" It's exhausting, stressful and at times I feel like it is down-right crazy. The energy and time spent seem too costly for this transient life we lead.
So finally, in the quiet moments before I crash into bed, barely able to move and back aching, I read the life giving goodness that sets me straight and aligns me to what is true.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels and then he will reward each person according to what he had done." Matthew 16:24-27
God's Word reminds me this world is not my home. God calls me to lay down all I have and all I wish for, to humbly follow Him. To loose my life. Little losses like where I lay my head. As His follower, He asks for relinquishment and sacrifice. He guides in ways of packed boxes and suitcases. In moves and transitions. All for His Kingdom purposes. Purposes that I don't quite understand or sometimes don't make sense. He doesn't promise rewards in the here and now, but in a time to come that I can't comprehend and is hard to grasp, but I know whoeheartedly it is true and will be worthwhile. His Word tells me to bow low and walk obediently and it will be worth it all when we see Jesus.
