Preparing a Place
A few months ago one of my best friends came to visit us in Nicaragua. This was not her first trip to Nicaragua so rather than seeing our life here getting to know Nicaragua, the purpose was to rest and process the huge changes that had occurred in her life recently. She needed a safe and peaceful place to come away and reflect on all that was going on in her life.
Luke and I were so excited when she decided to take us up on our offer of our home to be a haven for her during this difficult time in her life. We are truly blessed to live in a location outside of Managua that is cooler than most other parts, has an amazing view, and is generally quiet. As my good friend and former renter of our house put it: "That house truly sings God's peace."
As I prepared for my friend's visit, I found myself truly enjoying the process of readying her room. We are thankful to have a guest room with it's own bathroom as a separate portion of the house. Yet this room is quite small with little space for much more than a bed and end tables. However, to help with the small space we recently had shelves installed in the room and bathroom. My husband would probably argue that the shelves were installed mainly for putting things on, however my idea of usefulness includes decor and things that are aesthetically pleasing.
And so I set about decorating those shelves with anything that would make the room more homey and welcoming. Not only that, I placed things on those shelves that I knew my friend would particularly like. A picture of the two of us with some other wonderful friends. A small little gift box with candy in it. Fresh flowers. Books I thought she might like to read. A mini chalkboard that read: "He Himself is our peace. Eph. 2:14"
And all the while, as I was putting together what would be her abode for those eight days, I had much delight and joy. I loved preparing a place for her. A place of peace. A place of rest. A place that spoke of God's goodness, protection, and care. It was fun for me to think of creative ways to make this a place that my friend would enjoy. It was not a burden or something that I did begrudgingly. Quite the contrary, I really enjoyed doing it and was filled with anticipation as I thought of my friend enjoying the place I had prepared for her.
As I went about this task of preparing our guestroom for my friend, I started thinking about the correlation of Jesus preparing a place for His followers in Heaven.
"My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14:3-4
I thought about how He must be delighting in getting everything ready and making it just right. He knows us, doesn't he? Knows our personalities, passions, interests, values. And you can't get more creative than the Creator of the universe now can you? I used to think of Heaven as sort of this "boring, ho hum, singing hymns all day" place. How pathetic would that be and who would want to go there? Fact is Heaven is beautiful, amazing, intricately-designed, free of sin, pain, and death, and best of all, filled with the presence of God! Don't believe me? Check out Revelation 20-22.
He doesn't do this task begrudgingly or unwillingly, but joyfully and expectantly as He creates the best home His children could ever experience. Our true home. Where lasting treasures abound, peace overflows, and God's presence lights up everything!
I'm so very thankful He is preparing a place for me and for you if your faith rests on Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death to pay the penalty for your sins. I'm thankful that my entrance into this lovely, beyond-my-imagination place is not dependent on my worthiness or righteousness, but on His. He's already paid the price for my sin and now He's preparing a beautiful place for me where I can be with Him and glorify Him forever. Praise Him!
P.S. Lest you think that the intent of this post
was to sing the praises of my own hostess abilities, you should know
that we actually asked my friend to bring her own coffee maker! I mean
really, who does that?
Luke and I were so excited when she decided to take us up on our offer of our home to be a haven for her during this difficult time in her life. We are truly blessed to live in a location outside of Managua that is cooler than most other parts, has an amazing view, and is generally quiet. As my good friend and former renter of our house put it: "That house truly sings God's peace."
As I prepared for my friend's visit, I found myself truly enjoying the process of readying her room. We are thankful to have a guest room with it's own bathroom as a separate portion of the house. Yet this room is quite small with little space for much more than a bed and end tables. However, to help with the small space we recently had shelves installed in the room and bathroom. My husband would probably argue that the shelves were installed mainly for putting things on, however my idea of usefulness includes decor and things that are aesthetically pleasing.
And all the while, as I was putting together what would be her abode for those eight days, I had much delight and joy. I loved preparing a place for her. A place of peace. A place of rest. A place that spoke of God's goodness, protection, and care. It was fun for me to think of creative ways to make this a place that my friend would enjoy. It was not a burden or something that I did begrudgingly. Quite the contrary, I really enjoyed doing it and was filled with anticipation as I thought of my friend enjoying the place I had prepared for her.
As I went about this task of preparing our guestroom for my friend, I started thinking about the correlation of Jesus preparing a place for His followers in Heaven.
"My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14:3-4
I thought about how He must be delighting in getting everything ready and making it just right. He knows us, doesn't he? Knows our personalities, passions, interests, values. And you can't get more creative than the Creator of the universe now can you? I used to think of Heaven as sort of this "boring, ho hum, singing hymns all day" place. How pathetic would that be and who would want to go there? Fact is Heaven is beautiful, amazing, intricately-designed, free of sin, pain, and death, and best of all, filled with the presence of God! Don't believe me? Check out Revelation 20-22.
He doesn't do this task begrudgingly or unwillingly, but joyfully and expectantly as He creates the best home His children could ever experience. Our true home. Where lasting treasures abound, peace overflows, and God's presence lights up everything!
I'm so very thankful He is preparing a place for me and for you if your faith rests on Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death to pay the penalty for your sins. I'm thankful that my entrance into this lovely, beyond-my-imagination place is not dependent on my worthiness or righteousness, but on His. He's already paid the price for my sin and now He's preparing a beautiful place for me where I can be with Him and glorify Him forever. Praise Him!
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