There Yet?

“Finally, the time came for God to do what he had promised Abraham.”

Acts 7:17a

My oldest son, who has five children, has a license plate on his van that says “ThereYet?” Any parent in the car behind his fully understands the meaning of those two words. We all know that he and his wife were not the first parents to hear that simple question over and over again while traveling with the kids.

“When are we going to get there?” is a universal question rooted deeply in the human heart. When we hear a promise we begin to long for the fulfillment. We desire the things that we do not yet have and we yearn for that which we believe is to come.

When I was a child I remember learning about what it would be like when I became an adult. It was hard for me to imagine that it would really come to pass some day. But I did spend lots of time thinking about what it would be like when I was an adult. The answer to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is simply the overflow of those thoughts.

And then, “the time came.” I was no longer a child and I was living and functioning as an adult. It happened so fast, I can’t really say when I made the transition from boy to man. But it happened and for more than forty years I have been a “grown-up.”

As a Christian I find myself asking the Lord, almost daily, “Are we there yet?” I have read and heard the promises of His coming and the descriptions of heaven. I have come to trust Him more through suffering and pain, grief and sorrow, struggle and even through joy and peace. I have seen His hand move around me and even on me for more than sixty years. And yet, like a child on a trip with his parents I ask over and over again, “Are we there yet?”

The ride is bumpy. I am tired of the trip. In spite of what the song says, everything is not beautiful. I have lived long enough to see some pretty ugly things. The longer I live the more uncomfortable I become with this world. I have come to believe that this world indeed is not my home.

I can identify with Peter as he was walking on the water and then he looked at the wind and waves and began to sink. Today there is lots of wind and there are many large waves.

“Lord, I see the wind and the waves. Help me to trust instead of fear so that I will not begin to sink. Lord, help me to trust calmly in You in a world that has gone crazy.

Lord, I know that the time will come for You to do what You said You will do. Jesus will return. We will be with Him forever and my longings for the promise to be fulfilled will be a memory. So I stand and wait, sit and wait, walk and wait. Mostly, I just wait.

As I write these words, I know we are not there yet, but as I wait I pray once again “COME QUICKLY, LORD JESUS!”