There is a final trip we believers and followers of Jesus should all be preparing for with expectancy and joy.
Our late Pop's funeral was the day we were to leave for Israel, taking a group of 40 people on a 10-day tour. As the ministry trip coordinator, I had a lot of responsibilities riding on my shoulders. Years later, it was my late mother-in-law’s funeral, when we had to fly to Hong Kong to begin the first leg of our ministry's speaking tour in Asia.
The words of Jesus rang loud and clear to me on both days: “Follow me… Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:59-60). So, I did! Some might have commented on my absence, but my family clearly understood the cost of following Christ.
Are You Willing to Be Uncomfortable?
I heard good reviews of the show The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy, so I decided to watch the first season before I moved on to the latest season. Levy describes himself as cautious, uncomfortable in cold weather, adventurous, and so forth. As he travels to jaw-dropping destinations and stays at remarkable pricey hotels, he is pushed to the limits to explore new cultures, try out delicacies, and create new friendships.
But—you may say—no one should be reluctant about traveling the world! Yes, if you are open to new experiences. No, if you are happy where you are and don’t really see the need to step out and try new things.
The Book of Jonah opens with Jonah as a reluctant traveler. God says to him, “Arise, go to Nineveh and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me” (1:2). He doesn't want to. Running away from God, he decides to sail to Tarshish.
Well, Jonah’s reluctance sends him on an adventure never heard of before and since then. A tempest threatens everyone’s lives, so Jonah tells the passengers to throw him overboard. Then, Jonah gets swallowed by a great fish and has to stay for three days and three nights, praying to God for his salvation. After the fish vomits him on dry land and the voice of God comes to him again, he finally goes to Nineveh to do what God wants him to do.
Jonah was reluctant to go to Nineveh because he didn’t want the great city of 120,000 people to hear what God was going to do to them if they didn’t turn and believe in Him. And when the Ninevites repented—covering themselves in sackcloth, calling out to God for mercy, and turning away from evil—God relented and showed them mercy.
Have you been reluctant to travel somewhere, certain that you will not enjoy yourself when you get there because it’s “not your jam”? You see no point in your discomfort, even if you have heard great things about other people’s experiences. Or, how about God just telling you to make that phone call to your daughter whom you “banished” from your home as a young adult because of an incident? You have been wanting to visit her all these years, longing to see how she is doing and to ask for forgiveness... but you're waiting for that trip (you'll never take). As God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4). Think about the reason for your reluctance.
Are You Willing to Take a Step Back?
Jordan St. Cyr’s Weary Traveler has beautiful lyrics. It speaks of someone who keeps on going and going, just like the bunny with the Energizer batteries. The weary traveler’s intentions are good, but there is a cost to overworking.
First, there is the physical weariness. Our bodies are not meant to be working overtime. Fatigue, compounded by sleep deprivation, can reduce our ability to focus and do things. And when we don’t take much-needed rest, our quality of life is reduced.
Second, there is spiritual weariness. For a spiritual person, especially those who have a relationship with Jesus, we begin to lose sight of what God wants us to do. You know why? We start doing things on our own strength, not on God’s!
Moses was the great leader of the Israelites. When Jethro, his father-in-law, came to visit, he observed Moses sitting to judge the people from morning till evening. Jethro said, "'What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?’ And Moses said to his father-in-law, ‘Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.’ Moses’ father-in-law said to him, ‘What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone’” (Exodus 18:13-18).
And here is Jethro’s great advice to Moses: “Look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you” (vv.21-22).
The same thing happened to the Early Church when the numbers were increasing. In Acts, we read about a complaint by the “Hellenists against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to do this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word’” (6:1-4). The disciples discovered that trying to do everything themselves meant missing out on some other important elements of their work.
As St. Cyr crooned in his song, “Weary traveler… You were never meant to walk this road alone.” That is the clincher! We sometimes like to pride ourselves in our great leadership abilities or volunteer skills, pushing aside others who can take on some of the responsibilities to ease the work. We all have gifts, but we don’t possess all the gifts. It's okay to take a step back and let others step in. The Apostle Paul said, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
Be Expectant and Joyful Instead!
Your trip reminder just popped up. Are you starting to get excited? But there seems to be a lot of preparations to handle—from travel documents to what clothes to bring, to things to do when you get to your destination!
Jesus was preparing His disciples for His eventual departure. But even His description of where He was going troubled them so much that they had to be comforted. “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going” (John 14:1-4).
It wasn’t enough to hear that Jesus was going ahead to His Father’s home to get their rooms ready, return for them, and bring them with Him. Thomas answered, “Lord, we do not know where you are going? How can we know the way?” (v.5). It’s like Thomas was blindfolded, and asking Jesus, “Where are you taking me?” It didn’t fully register that there was no surprise here but, instead, a sure assurance of eternity spent in His presence.
There is a final trip we believers and followers of Jesus should all be preparing for with expectancy and joy. The Apostle Paul said, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope… For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the sound of the trumpet of God… Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together… in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:13, 16-17).
Reluctant? Weary? Just think about the magnificent room that awaits you in our Father’s house, where eternal rest can be enjoyed!
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/fcscafeine
Luisa Collopy is an author, speaker and a women’s Bible study teacher. She also produces Mula sa Puso (From the Heart) in Tagalog (her heart language), released on FEBC Philippines stations. Luisa loves spending time with her family over meals and karaoke!
