It's Gonna Be Worth It All...

Every year it was the same story. The tree would be put up, glittering with ornaments and lights, waiting for presents to cover the quilted skirt beneath. Those presents never arrived before Christmas morning, so there were no strong temptations to peek...however the gifts had to be somewhere. And I didn't want to know where they were. Finding an unwrapped gift before Christmas morning was always a disappointment for me. It meant less of a surprise. Less joy in the moment.

I love Christmas morning partly because the wait has been so worth it. It's the right time to open the gifts, see what you've been given, and let others see what you've given to them. It's a time of joy and celebration.

Of course there are days before Christmas morning that I'm curious... What might he have gotten me this year? What gifts might await me on Christmas morn? I can't help but wonder with the excitement of a child awaiting the arrival of Santa's gifts!

While this example pales in comparison, I long for Jesus and heaven in much of the same way. I know the joy and celebration will be far beyond my best Christmas morning! And I know that one reason it will be that way is because it will be in God's perfect, sovereign timing. Yet more days than not, I long for Him to come back now. I long for it to be the day when all is made right with the world.

No more sadness.

No more death.

No more sin.

Just Jesus.

This song has served to encourage me in the moments when "Christmas morning" seems too far away...


I don't understand your ways
Oh but I will give you my song
Give you all of my praise
You hold on to all my pain
With it you are pulling me closer
Pulling me into Your ways

Now around every corner
And up every mountain
I'm not looking for crowns
Or the water from fountains
I'm desperately seeking
Frantic believing
That the sight of your face
Is all that I'm needing
I will say to you

It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it all
I believe this

You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it all
Jesus

I know that the words to this song are true. Sometimes, the truth of how worth it this all will be just makes my heart ache even more for home. For Jesus. I pray for contentment. I long for joy.

But some days I just want my Jesus.

I want to be held in His arms and gaze into His eyes of love.

But here I am. And here is where He wants me. For now at least.

I can be content for I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.

And it's gonna be worth it all....

"Worry...

...is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere." - Glenn Turner

I worry all the time. I worry about everything. I worry about what to wear, what people think of what I'm wearing, waking up on time, eating the right foods, having a nice enough place, having the "right" stuff... I worry about a lot of details that in the grand scheme of things, really don't matter.

Over the next several weeks, our church's reading program will be going through the book of Matthew. One day this week, we read Matthew 6, which is loaded with gems of wisdom from Jesus.

Verses 25 - 27 have always given me comfort in my worried state, reassuring me of the Father's love and care, while also convicting me of my sin of worrying.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

Maybe that's one reason I love birds so much. They're just birds, right? Who cares, really? But God does. They are His creation, beautiful in His sight. Unique and intricately designed. And each one so different. He cares about their survival and feeds them. How much more does He care for me? How much more then, should I release my worry and fear?

Tonight, we watched this night heron and snowy egret sit at the bottom of the spillway steps, waiting for their tasty dinner to wash by their feet. And God was watching, too, knowing they need those fish to survive and providing for their needs. Just like He does for me.





Lord, grant me your peace and help me to take your yoke upon me. I all too often place myself under a yoke I was not meant to bear. Thank you for your provision for me and for the love you so graciously bestow on me. No need of mine ever passes by your watchful care. I praise you and thank you!