I flip on the screen and check again the arc of the plane’s expected journey. Skirting by Greenland. Still a long way to go. The line on the screen traces where our flight begins and where our flight ends, our final destination. We were moving to Nairobi, Kenya, and I couldn’t wait to get there! 

Our life as global workers is one of movement. We move from one house to another, one country to another. We sort and pack and unpack and pack again. We make friends here, we make friends there. We move from one time zone to another, one culture to another, one language to another. When we finally arrive at our journey’s end, we celebrate! 

Bible scholars tell us that the Psalms of Ascent, a collection of fifteen psalms, accompanied the Israelites on their journeys to Jerusalem for feast days. The grand finale, the last psalm in the collection, is composed of three brief verses. Psalm 134 tells us what happened when the Israelites finally arrived at the Temple in Jerusalem.  

“Praise the Lord!” they sang.

“Lift up your hands and praise the Lord!” they sang. 

And then the remarkable conclusion:

“May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who is the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 134:3

Their physical journey had come to an end, but their spiritual journey continued on. When we arrive at our final destination, let’s praise the Lord in the churches and streets and homes and schools where we minister. Let’s lift our hands and serve wholeheartedly. Let’s sing! But what an amazing gift we’re offered as we joyfully look beyond the physical to our ultimate destination – Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, Jesus!   

Hebrews 12:22-24 tells us: 

“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24 

As we join together with global workers from all corners of the earth, may we praise the Lord and lift our hands in thankfulness for the blessing of Jesus. Through his death and resurrection, he offers us life now and forever with the maker of heaven and earth. 

Continue on with joy, my friend! A remarkable destination awaits us – Jesus!