The wheels on the car go bump, bump, bump! All the way from our home in Nairobi to Malindi, we bounce over, in, and around potholes as dust billows and blows in the windows. We clutch our seats to keep from knocking into the person next to us. Trucks swerve by recklessly. Our air conditioner isn’t working. But the journey is worth it because we know what awaits us! Sea, sand, and sun! Palm trees and pools! 

Sweaty and tired and in desperate need of a shower, we cheer when we see the sign for the hotel! My husband and I, along with our five kids, tumble out of the car. The entryway to the hotel is clean and tastefully decorated. The fresh smell of the sea washes over us. A cheerful hotel worker welcomes us with glasses of passion fruit juice—fresh, bright, glorious! 

How much more glorious will our welcome to heaven be! Jesus, the very Son of God is preparing a place for us there, even now. He promises that He will come back, He will gather those who believe in Him as Lord and Savior, and He will take us to be with Him forever. 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-4

Friend, what road are you on today? Is it bumpy, clouded with billows of dust? Is it crowded with reckless drivers, with things that are broken? Please persevere and pray, believing that God is sovereign and He is good—today, tomorrow, and forever. May knowing the One who journeys with you fill you with fresh hope even today!