Monday, January 27, 2014

A Prepared Place

 

[Photo of a rural mailbox]


 “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and
the exact places where they should live.
 —Acts 17:26

“Number 10 B Dutch Way”—my Mom’s last address before she left us for Heaven. She only lived four other places during her entire eighty-nine years. This last address identified her room and bed number in a nursing home.

A year before, we would never have considered choosing that kind of “home” for her last days. When we saw that particular room, though—the one bed available in the facility, right by the window—we knew it was a perfect room for her.

My Mom loved birds and trees and nature in general, having always lived on a farm. Even here she could look out over the lawn, and after my brother-in-law brought her bird feeder and placed it just outside her window, she could enjoy a few last days in a very comfortable place—a prepared place just right for her.

I have always been fascinated by Acts 17:26. This verse gave me assurance at a time, early in our marriage, when we had to make a very sudden move from a nice apartment. The owner had decided to transform our apartment into a condominium. We could not afford to buy this place we had lived in four years. We had just a few days to find a new place to live.

We looked high and low for a place to accommodate the two of us. We finally found a rental condominium through some miraculous answers to prayer. Little did we know that within a few months, my husband’s father would die and his mother would need to come to live with us.

Suddenly, we needed all of the additional space this new living place provided. We could never have anticipated this need. But, not only did God prepare it for the two of us, He prepared it for my husband’s mom, as well.

The Apostle John talks about the way that God is preparing a place for us, His children, in Heaven. The Apostle writes in John 14:2:

“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.”

When we read that God prepares a place for us after this life, I think it is also safe to assume that He pledges to take care of every place we need to live until then. Like a loving Father, He watches over us and reassures us that He will make sure we will always have a place prepared for us!

Though we may not have to think about finding a new place to live very often in our lives, it can become a most stressful time when it happens. If you need a new home, or a loved one does, trust God to take care of this need.

Surely, our God who said He would take care of our need for food and for clothing in Matthew 6:25-34, will also take care of providing us a place that He has prepared just for us.

 

 

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