As a child, I thought it was "a best day ever” if I had the chance to go for a drive with my Daddy, and sometimes my uncle. They often took me to interesting places that, to me, seemed like that no one else knew about. It did not have to be someplace special, just going for a drive made me happy! I never knew what interesting places or things might be discovered. Today I like to compare those days of long ago to the places and things that my Heavenly Father will take me to see and do when I am with Him in Heaven and on the Earth made New. What an exciting thing to contemplate! What will the other worlds in the universe have for me to discover? I am so glad that the best tour guide ever will be there to direct my destination.
Later, my husband and I went to live the first years of our marriage in Michigan. I was working at a small roadside grocery and produce market. And had become the manager of my store. But with that came stresses that were sometimes hard to deal with. He soon found out that a drive to explore helped me relieve the mental distress. Calm slowly could become more normal. Sometimes we just could go a few miles. At other times we could journey for miles along the great lake called Lake Michigan. I was transported back to the days of exploring with my father! Now my husband took over and learned to enjoy what made me happy. We found so many things that God had blessed that area with. God loves me! He gives me just a taste of what my life might be like during eternity! There will always be new places to explore and things to do.
Having lived in several states and in several different places in almost every on of those states, we have never run out of new places to explore. And even though we have repeated some of the places, each time we find something new to see in those places. That is how I think it will be in the New Earth. Because our God has shown us in just small ways how creative He was in the creation of this world, I think that His recreation will be even more wonderful!
Just recently we had some time together to once again go for a "drive". My husband did not ask me where we should go, and I did not suggest. He chose and I was happy that we were just going! Our first destination was to try to see where the large amount of smoke we could see was coming from. And we headed east. Eventually we decided that finding the source of the smoke wasn't going to happen. We ended up at a local cemetery that has importance to our family. We were looking for something and somehow missed seeing it, we drove right past it!! Driving past what is perfectly in plain sight happens to many of us. I just pray that I don't ignore what is in plain sight in my travel towards the destination of Heaven. I don't want to ignore the signs of His coming. I don't want to pass right by the landmarks that show me what is coming ahead. There were No Trespassing signs everywhere we looked as we were looking for that landmark we had missed. I am so glad that God will not put up No Trespassing signs in His Earth Made New or anyplace in the rest of the Universe. He has planned an eternity of excursions for me, more than enough to keep my desires for exploring happy. On the other hand, He has put up No Trespassing signs here on earth now and I am happy with the places He doesn't want me to enter. Those places are most likely places where it is easy to spot Satan and his demons! I have no desire to meet up with them.
We found the missing landmark that is on the edge of that local cemetery, having just driven right by it at first. That reminded me that we really need to be on the lookout for those signs that God is placing along the way for us to see and "read". I don't want to miss them, that could make me miss out on forever life with Jesus. We were just getting out of the car to get closer to this landmark which has some family history and remains important to us. It has just recently been "fixed"—made into a more permanent place to visit. We were admiring it when out of the "No Trespassing" forest we observed a lady coming down a path sort of clearing the way. She was tossing sticks out of the way and quite surprised us when we noticed her. She came upon us very silently. God will surprise many when He comes as they have been missing the signs of His coming. Even though His coming will not be quiet, many will be surprised. I do not want to be one of those who will be surprised! I am going to be watching and have been watching for the events that prove His coming is near at hand. Just as the landmark was near at hand. We just were not doing a good job of looking!
The surprise from the woods was very friendly and came to talk with us. She was the one who probably put up the No Trespassing signs. I doubt that she would have been friendly at all if we had trespassed across the fences and the gate that was along the property and path. On the other hand, God puts up those signs where He does not want us to go. He told Adam and Eve to not trespass into the area of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Their trespass made Satan happy, and he was glad to join them in their trespass. Trespassing never ends well if you get caught! Adam and Eve probably regretted their trespass both immediately and for the rest of their lives. I do not want to trespass into places that will make me regret the trespass. My regrets will not last eternity for my life will be forever over—UNLESS, I ask forgiveness for my trespasses! Then I can be forgiven and keep on trying to find my path to forever with Jesus.
We had quite a talk with the lady from the woods. She and her husband were working hard to get some work done to clean up their property before the season of snakes and ticks and mosquitoes and heat came. She expressed how much she did not like any of those. Her dislike and even fear were very real. It reminded us again of the snake in the Garden and the results of sin that surely brought out many more snakes and the damage that ticks and mosquitoes and heat can cause. We long for a world with no sin or evil snakes, ticks, mosquitoes and many other things that can harm and destroy.
We drove on that day and renewed our acquaintance with some old places and noticed things that made us happy, we puzzled over others, saw things that we had not seen before and wondered about a place along the road that seemed to need some signs to tell us what it was made to be used for. Is it a place to launch a canoe or something else? God gives us things to puzzle about but does not give us answers to all our questions. There was another area that we wanted to explore but the way was blocked. God sometimes blocks from disaster and shows that we should stop before trouble. Sometimes we just go ahead and cause our own troubles. We noticed that there was a place set up for a frisbee game and exact directions on how to play successfully—if you followed the directions. If you decided to just play it your way, you would not have a successful outcome. All these places gave us things to apply to our daily Christian journey and how to make that journey end in success.
We saw signs of spring coming. And once again, we thought about Jesus' soon coming! There are things about us every day that show us He loves us and wants to come back and take us home with Him—kind of a season of Jesus' soon coming Spring Season of a remade New World.
My Best Days are Yet to Come!