It took me a couple of weeks to deliver magnets, coasters, and other souvenirs to say ‘thank you’ to so many that helped us take this trip. Doctors, nurses, friends, family, and church all celebrated… I felt a little like Bilbo Baggins in ‘There And Back Again’ (aka: ‘The Hobbit’ by J. R. R. Tolkien). The truth is, as in most stories, God involves many people to accomplish His purposes… people who walk with Him and people who may not even know Him yet. Susan and I felt privileged to simply be a part of His work.
After these last six writings, I’ve concluded that this story is not as much about our experiences as it is about the Kingdom of God. Our part is to believe that “with God, all things are possible,” and to say ‘yes’ when He gives directions. It is also good to remember: “His ways are not our ways.” Sometimes the path is smooth, but as Steven, Paul, Peter, and scores of other believers (many who live today) have experienced, the road is often rocky. Those who are persecuted for Christ and press on are the true heroes. How does one attain such faith? “Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of our faith”… He is our hope. The Spirit wants to guide us all to adopt Job’s mantra: “Though He slay me, still will I trust Him.”
The Good Shepherd may lead us through difficulties, but He does not put to shame those who love Him. I wanted to come back home half-way through the trip, not because I was afraid… I just couldn’t see myself finishing. Since landing in Barcelona, I had gotten progressively worse… but: “If we are we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.” (II Timothy 2:13) After the kind doctor ordered platelets then told us she could not sign the ‘permission to fly’ document, Susan and I knew her solution was God’s answer. “Come back the day before you are to leave. I’ll give you enough platelets to get home.” I started feeling better from that point on.
“The Kingdom of God is among you,” Jesus said. We can’t see it, but sometimes we can sense it. The Father wants the people of Spain to be delivered from the religious abuse that is a part of their history. Jesus is still seeking and saving the lost. The Holy Spirit was working powerfully in L’Arcada. He had chosen to send many American coaches to a different country as witnesses of the love of our Father. He had also chosen many young Spanish followers of Jesus to sacrifice vacation time to pass on to teenagers what they discovered years before at the same camp. God wants His Kingdom to spread throughout Spain and throughout the world. He knows that time is short.
God wants His Kingdom to spread in our land too. He hates hypocrisy and anything else that misrepresents the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He wants us to give up control and trust Him so that one day prodigals from all nations will run to Him. We can’t always discern the ‘wheat and the weeds,’ but He sees perfectly. “The Lord knows those who are His.” (II Timothy 2:19) He longs for His children to listen to Him, to pray fervently, and to live in His Son. Today, Jesus speaks with the same urgency that He had with His disciples. “The Kingdom of God is at hand!”
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the Kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the Kingdom of God is in your midst.”
Then He said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. People will tell you, ‘There He is!’ or ‘Here He is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in His day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” Luke 17:20-33