The views
The sunrises
The sunsets
The rainbows
This month in Swaziland was as close to heaven as I may get here on Earth…
I woke up early every morning to welcome in the day with worship and the rising sun.
I watched the sun set out the kitchen window as I cooked for our little "family" of 19 each night.
In my free time, I would go out and sit on a rock on the side of the mountain and just take in the beauty of the mountains, the river, the rocks, the grass… Words can't even begin to describe the majestic beauty that surrounded us.
Our little house was on a mountaintop overlooking the Komati River just a few clicks from Maguga Dam [supposedly the world's largest clay dam].
On our first free day, I walked to and from the Lodge overlooking the dam, an 8 mile round trip, completely uphill the entire way back. In order to take a taxi into town, we had to walk an hour down the mountain to the main road.
The first half of the road leading up to our ministry
We were secluded from the hustle and bustle of life.
There was no internet on the mountain top and the only thing to worry about was what type of ministry we wanted to do each day.
Each morning, we met as a family for worship and scripture as the Spirit led.
We then went head strong into our day, whether that was playing with kids, digging holes, chipping paint, moving a playground, tutoring, working at the health clinic, cooking for the team, or any other tasks that needed done on the grounds.
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I've done a lot of reading on the Race.
I've always been a reader, but never in my life have I had so much time to dive into books the I wanted to read. And the Lord just kept laying book after book on my heart to draw me closer to him.
This month, I read the final two books of an Eldredge 3-in-1 book that I bought on my Kindle. These two books are Desire and Waking the Dead. I plowed through both of them and honestly, read them so fast that I can barely distinguish the two in my mind.
For anyone who hasn't ever read Eldredge, he is a HUGE nature person and writes a lot about the many adventures he takes camping in the western parts of the US. Every page I read resonated with my spirit as I tried to soak in the beauty around while at the same time taking in the beauty on the pages and in my soul.
As I sat overlooking the valley one morning, I remembered something I read the night before:
God is going to redeem creation.
Just like every man on earth, the Earth itself is groaning under the consequences of the Fall in the Garden of Eden. BUT when Jesus comes again, heaven will come to Earth and even creation will be all that it was meant to be, in all its majesty and splendor.
I scanned the valley as I remembered this.
If creation is THIS beauty on this side of eternity, how much more beautiful and majestic will it be once heaven comes to Earth?
And to think, creation is just an echo, a glimpse of the majesty and beauty that God himself possesses.
Did you ever stop to think about that? That morning, I wrote down everything that I really enjoy in life, the little things with no obvious reasons as to why i like them; things like weddings, waterfalls, fire, sunrises, sunsets… As I meditated on each one and the joy that fills my soul any time I get to enjoy these things, I realized that all these things are a glimpse of the eternal. Just read the book of Revelations where it describes the throne room of God.
So my prayer that morning, was that I would not get caught up the things of the world that will soon be passing away, but to take each and every one of these little joys as a reminder of the promise of what is to come.
To live eternally.
Now.
Not after I die.
NOW.
Eternal life is not primarily duration, but quality of life, 'life to the limit.' *
And that is my prayer for you now.
Start living the eternal life God has promised to everyone who believes in Him.
Start living it NOW.
* John Eldredge, in Desire
