What could this post possibly be about? Starting a new career? Moving to a new state? Enjoying a vacation or staycation?
Good guesses, but not even close.
For anyone who has spent a modicum of time around me, you know that I often talk about being “ready to go.” There’s not a lot that ties me to this life, except for the amazing friends I’ve been blessed with. Oh yeah, and God hasn’t taken me home yet!
As the years have gone by, and I’ve lost more and more of my loved ones, my attention does lean much more towards what lies ahead in the afterlife. If you read up on all the amazing promises God makes about eternity with him, you can’t help but long for that kind of perfection.
Recently, I’ve had a new ministry “project” that God has led me to and in one of my prayer times this week, I found myself actually excited about this new possibility. And for the first time in many months, I told God that I was excited about it.
And I did find myself telling him, “I’m ready to go, but I’m excited to stay.” What? It did actually surprise me a bit because I’ve been on the far side of that “stay/go” spectrum. But it also brought a smile to my heart because I knew God was behind this.
So let’s take a deeper look at these two options. Can we really be okay with either one? Can we truly say both are true for us? Where do you land?
I have widow friends who, like me, are ready to go whenever God says it’s time. But I also have widow friends who want to spend time with their children and grandchildren and even great grandchildren. They want to see them grow up, get married, have children of their own. I can’t blame them one bit for landing on that end of the spectrum.
What would God want for us? Honestly, none of us knows that, because we don’t know the future that God has planned for us.
But I can say with complete assurance that God wants us to embrace both statements. Oh sure, you may tend towards one end or the other, but our lives need to be ready for either reality.
Whether you’re 20 or 90, I’d like to challenge you to analyze whether you can honestly say yes to either. And if not, what business should you do with God to arrive there?
Ready to Go
Being ready to go means, first and foremost, that you know you’re a child of God and know where you’re headed when you die. That’s the first order of business, and the only one that really matters.
Being ready to go … anywhere… means you have much to look forward to at your destination. If you haven’t grasped the incredible perfection that awaits us in heaven, why not start a little research on the topic? Go first to God’s Word. Do a word search on “heaven” and see where it takes you.
Read some books that dig deeply into the subject. My all-time favorite is “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn. I’ve also read great information by Dr. David Jeremiah and John MacArthur. Lee Strobel also has a book on heaven. If you’re serious about learning some incredibly encouraging truths about what lies ahead, check these out!
Not to be morbid, but we all know people who seem to have been taken from this world much too early, according to our timetable. None of us is promised tomorrow.
Excited to Stay
My guess is that most people really do want to finish out some business here on earth. You may be busy raising your family, or enjoying grandkids, or committed to your career, or enjoying your hobbies. Maybe a bit of each. You certainly don’t feel like you’ve done everything you want. So for all of you, wanting to stay is natural.
But if you fall more closely to me on that spectrum, your focus may be on the perfection that lies ahead. Maybe you’ve become weary of losing loved ones. Perhaps your health has declined to the point that you can’t imagine living that way for years and years. You might even feel that you have no purpose in life or get virtually no satisfaction from your life.
Those are all heart-breaking circumstances and I sympathize with anyone struggling through them.
And yet, if we are still alive, it’s solely because God, in his sovereignty, has not yet called us home. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 139:16 – “your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
Simply put, God has known how long each of us will live before any of us were even born. That’s powerful and should help us realize that God isn’t done with us if we wake up each morning!
As it says in Psalm 138:8, “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” Yes, he has a purpose for each of us so long as we’re still breathing! Ask God to show you what that is. Have an open heart and mind to listen well to how he directs you. Be patient if you don’t get immediate answers. His timing, and his plans are perfect.
So regardless of where any of us falls on that stay/go spectrum, we likely have some work to do in order to be content in our circumstances. And isn’t that what we all long for? Contentment despite circumstances. It’s a noble, biblical, godly goal!
Not that I am speaking of being in need,
for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
Philippians 4:11
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