I was extremely tired a few nights ago and all I wanted to do was sit, not think, move, or even speak. I don’t know if I’m the only one that has ever been like that, but I was tired. The list of things I had done that day was long, just like everyone else’s. On this evening M. (our three-year-old), seemed to have more energy than normal. He wanted my attention, and he was doing anything in his power to get it. He wanted me to play baseball, basketball, and go fish. My first thought was, I can’t wait till he is old enough to just play on his own, and I can go back to my lazy evenings at home. Then the Lord reminded me how lonely that can be, and how precious it is to hear his little voice and watch his imagination as he plays. God reminded me that M. would soon be as big as our two older ones and you only see them out of their room when it’s time to eat. I think we have all been guilty of saying “I can’t wait till…” (you fill in the blank). We seem to always be looking for the next big thing, the next big excitement in our lives, or the next holiday. We want to rush past the hard parts in our lives and just get to the good spots, the easy places, or the non-eventful times in our lives. But, is that what we are really called to do? Is that the way God wants us to live our lives? I don’t think so.
In the book of Acts, we read of Paul and his journey, and missions trips. The thing that stood out to me in Acts 20, Paul is meeting with the elders from Ephesus. He was talking to them and telling them that he was going to be going on to Jerusalem, and that he would not be seeing them again, because he knew he would die before he would see them again. Paul was pouring out his heart to these men and giving them some advice to carry them through the hard times that Paul knew they would face. As I read this I think that Paul had taken his time in the previous years during his time as a missionary, to train these elders to be the men and leaders that he knew they could be, because, Paul knew that he would not always be there to help them in their church. Paul was faithful in those everyday situations so that when he was not there he would know that those men could handle it.
Are we faithful in the everyday things so that when its our time to go to our next mission, appointment, job, etc., we can have the confidences that what we are leaving behind is grounded and strong. This challenges me to evaluate, am I training my boys in the small things everyday so that when I’m no longer with them all the time they make those right choices? The place that God has you right now, are you doing the best you can, or are you just getting by till something bigger comes along. My challenge this week is to thrive where you are now so when the time comes to move to the next stage of your life, you can be proud of what you have left behind! Like Paul you can know that what you are leaving behind is better then it was when you found it!
Acts 20:31-32 “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears. And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you and inheritance among all who are sanctified.” (CSB)