John 14: 1-4: A Place for Me

John 14:1-4 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. 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.”

A couple of weeks ago, one devotional reading was John 14:1. Nice verse. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." I didn't think much more about it. I'm not worried (much) about anything. I do trust in God. Check - mission accomplished - as far as this verse is concerned.

The next day, in a different devotion, I was supposed to read John 14:1-4. Now, as you may know, when I read the same passage that close together, I feel like I'm supposed to pay more attention. So I thought about it, spent some time on it. I know this passage is used a lot after someone passes away, to comfort the family with God's mansion with many rooms. The idea of living in God's house, in a room prepared especially for me by Jesus, is really a comforting thought. But, I'm not sick. Now that I'm over the flu, I don't even feel bad! So I don't think is to comfort me that I'm going to die and be in heaven anytime soon. Not that that isn't possible. I just think I need to look harder for the message I'm supposed to get from this passage right now.

So, I thought about it some more. I am without a job. I've been job hunting. I've been on interviews. I had have no job offers. My ego is having some trouble with this. So perhaps, the message from this verse for me is that Jesus is preparing the right place for me, be patient. Ok. I decided to go with that and continue to try to be patient and wait for the right job that Jesus is preparing for me. After all, that's what I want...the job that is part of God's plan.

Then, a day or two later, a different devotional reading was the same 4 verses!! Gee, I must still not be getting the point! Let's look at it again. 1) don't be troubled. 2) Trust God. 3) Jesus is preparing a place for me. What else?

Ahhh, there it is. "[Jesus] will ...take [me] to be with [Him] that [I] also may be where [Jesus is]. I think the rest of the message to me from these verses is that not only will I find the job/position/vocation that Jesus wants me to have, but it will also be a place where Jesus is. There will be Christians there. It won't be a place where I am isolated from other Christians. It will be a place where I will be supported by and will support other Christians. Isn't that a wonderful thought!?

That may not be the message at all but that is what I believe the message is for me at this time. I like it and I'm sticking with it. Thank You Jesus!

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