My mother was born on a cattle ranch in a bleak part of the Midwest.
When I was a boy, we used to visit my grandmother, who still lived near the old
homestead. I came to know that part of the country as hot, sandy, dry, and
windy, with almost no trees or water. Mom told me the winters were so brutal that a man
could get lost in a snowstorm just trying to go from the house to the barn.
So I began to wonder, why did people settle here? 150 years ago
people traveled west, lured by the promise of land of their own. They scraped together
enough to buy a team of oxen and a wagon, and headed into the sunset. But why did they
settle in hot, dry, flat, inhospitable places with no trees and no water?
Knowing that they could push on to California or Oregon, why pull the wagon over
and build a sod house?
I thought of all that when I read about how excited the seventy-two
were when they came back from their ministry tour. The seventy-two
returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your
name!”(Luke 10:17)
Jesus confirmed that He had given them
authority over demons, but warned them not to settle for joy in earthly
victories. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
(Luke 10:20, my emphasis)
We're all tempted to settle, to look for joy here, in this life. But don't pull your wagon over too quickly. Don't settle in this dry and dusty land when just ahead is the place of real joy.
It's Jesus' joy that awaits us in the place He has prepared for us. And in the meantime it's the pursuit of His presence that makes the journey an adventure instead of a daily dust storm.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11
