And Never Again I'll Go Sailing

I just found reason 4,978 why I know that God loves me.

Lately, I have been having this intense desire to move to a foreign country after graduation. I feel like I just don’t fit in the culture, but really I just want to go far away. This desire bothers me, because it’s not about God and His plan; it’s about me and my plan. This is where God put me. This is where I need to be, at least for now. I thought about missionary work and teaching English, so that I could fit my dream with God’s work. But I realized that God will never move me if I’m not content here. I can’t be selfless across the globe if I’m not selfless here. And I’ll never be a missionary there if I can’t be one here. Still, I have a drive to explore and a desire to move.

There was a second part to my desire that bothered me more. I really wanted the foreign country to be the home nation of someone who would be totally head-over-heels for me. This was the more aggravating of the two parts of my desire, for a couple of reasons. First, there is the problem of finding said foreign guy. Second, right now I feel that God wants me to focus on Him right now and not on romance. Still, my imaginary foreign guy would not leave me alone no matter how often I asked him to leave.

I went down to my school’s prayer chapel yesterday to pray about it and before long, I found myself perusing through the “pray for the nations” guide and finding about the prayer needs of a conglomerate of little God-forsaken European countries that I never knew existed. I wonder if they need missionaries there? I wonder if they have neat accents? I wonder….? Once I had peeled my brain out the book and set it aside, I managed to have some good prayer time about my desires and God’s will. It wasn’t until tonight that I heard an answer.

~Philippians 3:20~

But our citizenship is in Heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh wow. God hears prayer. God knows my heart. My eyes filled with tears. My desires weren’t wrong, they were misplaced. I’m not meant to be a part of this culture forever. I do get to go far away to somewhere beautiful. I do have a Man who is coming for me, who loves me more than anything. He’s faithful, loving, and strong. I don’t know if He has an accent, but I bet you anything that He could pull off a mean Scottish brogue if He wanted to. He’s coming for me, and He’s going to take me away to His country. But for now, my place and my work is here. For now, I am learning to be content and to be a witness.  For now, I’m dreaming and waiting… for my Jesus.

DIRECTIONS: Read and Wear. Repeat if Desired.

   Oh, how I love a well-worn Bible. I love books in general—the feel of pages (antique books have thick, slightly textured pages and often ragged edges; Bibles have thick, smooth pages; coffee table books have heavy, glossy pages…), I love the smell, I love the weight of a book in my hand. I love the feeling of cracking open a brand-new book right in the middle, and I love the feeling of a beloved, century-old hardback falling open to the faded ink of the inscription page. Most of all, I love the feeling of a well-worn Bible.

     You’ve seen them. The pages have creases, and they’re slightly warped and wrinkled in favorite passages. There’s writing all over the margins and highlighter ink bleeding through the pages. The covers are torn and patched with duct tape (I once knew a guy who had to drive nails through his Bible’s spine to keep it from falling apart). There are leaflets and notes stuffed in between the pages, marking favorite passages and floating out randomly. I just love that.

     This morning, I picked up my sister’s Bible to do a little reading, and I was absolutely thrilled to see that her cover is fading at the spots where her thumbs go where she holds it. The pages are a mess… I’ve never seen such terrible warping as the mountains and valleys on the pages of Psalms. There are markings and highlight marks everywhere, and the corners are dog-eared and worn. What a fabulous feeling. I may not see her read her Bible since I’m gone most of the day, but I have no doubt that she is doing it!

     What does your Bible say about your passion for God’s word? More importantly, what does your LIFE say about your passion for God’s word? You may not like to highlight or mark in your Bible. You may be careful with yours and keep it on a shelf instead of chucking it in your backpack everyday with your sack lunch, three textbooks, and gym shoes. Maybe your Bible is well-read and dust-free, but not packed with pens and papers. A glance at your Bible may tell a little bit about your Bible reading habits, but your life will tell a lot more. How do you live? Do people see Jesus in you? Are you a “living Bible” to those who have never read it? My challenge to you is to stop for thirty seconds right now and evaluate your life. How do you live? How do you love? What changes should be made? Prayerfully consider this. It just might change your life. Now consider your time spent in God’s Word. Do you read every day? Do you absorb what you read? If you’re stressed out, bitter, or complacent, it might be a good time to reevaluate your Bible reading habits. Read daily. Read deeply. The point is not how much or how long; the point is that God is working in your life through his word.

     So pick up your Bible. Get the most out of it. Love it, read, it, wear it out. Or take notes somewhere else and keep the pages neat. Or plug in your iPod or Android and scroll through the pages. Or listen to your audio Bible. However you do it... God is eager to speak to you!