God on Vacation

We long for those summer days when we can escape into freedom.  Freedom from commitments.  Freedom from scheduling and must-dos and to-dos. We yearn for vacations. Counting down the days until we can hop on that plane or take that first exit out of town.  With time away from the daily monotonies of life we begin to feel hopeful, we see new possibilities. From our hotel room, to our campground, to the beach, we are once again refreshed and renewed, sometimes returning again to face our realities with a different perspective and new found strength.  Other times, the break allows us to muster up the courage to make overdo changes in our lives and begin again in a fresh place.

I mostly enjoy mini-vacations. In my years spent living abroad, these were fondly referred to as “mini-breaks”.  For the price of a t-shirt, one could jump on a last minute flight and in ninety minutes be whisked away to another culture, language, and country all together.   From Friday to Monday, from London to Paris, realities could shift very quickly. 

We all need vacations.

With age, I’m finding, comes a greater need for security.  My once adventuresome self is rather enjoying home sweet home and sometimes, not always, but sometimes on vacation I can feel lost, without my roots, and long for home and normalcy.  I had to remind myself recently that God is still with me on vacation.  Even though our externals change, our environments are different, and the people surrounding us are new, we are still in the presence of the same God whether in Paris, Peru, or the prairies. 

The good news is God isn’t on vacation.  Correction:  He is on ours.

Learning about the character of God, for me, seems to come in stages and seasons.  He reveals new things about Himself seemingly one at a time until it sinks in and is tangible and real for me.  I’m in a season of learning about God’s sovereignty.  Webster’s dictionary describes sovereignty as “freedom”, “independence”, “self government”, and in thinking of God’s independence and freedom I am reminded that our external circumstances have no impact on His perfect will for our lives and how he will intervene and engage in spite of where we are.  It’s difficult isn’t it? To trust that God loves and cares about us that much.  But, He promises us that He does, and that He is with us wherever we go. 

Enjoy your summer vacations!! He goes with you...

“You both precede and follow me.  You place your hand of blessing on my head.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know!  I can never escape from your spirit!  I can never get away from your presence!...If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me and your strength will support me.” (Psalm 139: 5-10)