I know that many of my readers are parents and will identify with the question in my title because it is very common for small travelers to ask this question multiple times, especially on a long trip. I know that when my children would repeatedly ask me this question, eventually I would get irritated and tell them that I would let them know when we were close, but they should not ask me the question again. Now that I’m an adult, I find myself asking the same question, but mine is directed to God. It’s not that I’m eager to depart the earth and my mortal body. I’m just eager to get to the resting part of my life. Sometimes I get tired of the daily struggle.

It is quite obvious that I am not at that final resting place, and I am really working on resting in His peace here on earth. After all, when Jesus ascended, one of the things He left us as our inheritance while we are still on earth is His peace.

So, when I am struggling with the burdens of this life, I remember that Jesus speaks peace to my heart and soul. When there are conflicts within the family, my whole body tenses, my heart beats faster and I wait for the final shoe to drop. Meanwhile, I try to pray for God’s peace to be in the situation and resolve the conflict. There are a lot of conflicts in our family, some of them because of our very conservative beliefs and the very liberal thoughts of our two sons. Nevertheless, God is the God of the Universe and He can give me peace even during the back and forth debates. One of the things God has spoken to my heart to do is not to be so quick to post memes that are deliberately provocative. He also told me not to argue with my sons online. I state my belief and withdraw. Therein I find peace. I know that God is with me no matter what the conflict may be and that He will see me through to the other side. I am thankful that I am retired and no longer have to face daily conflicts at work. I don’t think that anyone who has not been a teacher in recent years could possibly understand how demanding parents have become and how lazy some students have become, all of which caused constant strife with me as a teacher because I never lowered my standards or allowed the parents to dictate how I would run my classroom. The conflicts were even more apparent the last year before I retired because the administration was not very supportive of my disciplinary habits. I was kind of sad to leave my colleagues behind, but the peace I felt in leaving the conflict behind was amazing!

I know that this is what a long for, and so I ask the question of the Lord. “Are we there yet?” The difference between my question and when my children asked it is that the Lord has a ready answer in His word. When I get there, I will be imperishable, glorious, powerful and have a spiritual body. So, really, I don’t need to ask the question any more and neither do you. “How long, O Lord?” This has become my new question. How long before all of this wickedness that I see and that hurts my heart will go away and only righteousness, goodness and purity will be present? I ask the question and God usually brings to my mind someone in my family or a friend who still needs to acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior. He reminds me that I don’t want them to be lost forever, for all eternity. He is in control of how long my journey lasts as well as yours. I am on this earth until He calls me home. So, I don’t want to be impatient. I want to be busy until he gets here and in my busy-ness, I want to have peace, knowing that He is right there helping me to get through whatever comes my way. He can help you, too. He can answer your cries for help, also. I hope that you will learn the lesson that I am learning, just to trust Him, with His peace in your heart, and know that all things will work out in the end. Blessings.

He Is With You by Mandisa