Well as I think a lot of you know this past week we began our long journey from Guatemala to South Africa. We left Guatemala early Tuesday morning and arrived here early Friday morning with a total of 63 hours worth of travel. I’m not gonna lie to you traveling for this long was not something that I was looking forward to nor something I enjoyed a ton. I’m not super big on planes so having to spend a total of 27 hours in the air sounded quite miserable to me but thankfully I have a much bigger God then that who made flying much better. I could talk more about our week of travel and share more details but I fear that would be rather boring and repetitive. To sum it up God was incredibly good to let everything move along smoothly and to bring us here safely. Instead of talking about travel I’d much rather spend some time thinking on what the Lords taught me and write about that. The thing that comes to mind right now is simply the word Marantha!
Maranatha isn’t a word I’d really heard before the race but it’s been such a big one especially since getting to Guatemala. The meaning behind the word is simply “Come Lord Jesus”. It’s a cry for Jesus to return, a cry for his second coming. I think that this is a cry that we often don’t take seriously enough and end up missing out on. I know I should have my eyes fixed on heaven but too often I get distracted by the things of this world and lose sight of heaven. Since being on the race the Lord’s shown me how to fix my perspective little by little and I’ve been slowly learning how to really live with the cry of Maranatha!
I think the place that I’ve learned this the most is with the ministry we had Reindom. One of their core values was the word Maranatha and it’s something they’re really passionate about. The people that work there truly are people that live with a heart and mind focused on Jesus coming back. Maranatha was the cry and focus of several of our prayer room times, we always came back to a heaven mindset. More than just living this way, they also made such a point to teach it. I remember one of the last weeks we had there our focus for prayer room was that the next generation would be a generation that is earnestly waiting for Jesus to return. Not just hoping or waiting but honestly crying out and living a life ready for his return. Living so expectantly with a heart that is truly longing to see Jesus return! A generation preparing for his return.
Another big thing that taught me a lot about this was a lesson we had at our debrief in Guatemala. This lesson was about walking with an eternal perspective. I found that this is something I struggle in but something that is truly important to be walking in. If I’m not focused on the goal at the end of everything then I’m gonna get tired or distracted by the things that seem so big in the moment. Life is hard, life as a Christian is especially hard, Jesus never promised it to be easy but if our hearts and minds are focused on the heavenly goal at the end it makes the hard and the suffering that much easier to endure. Looking to the prize of heaven makes it so much easier to count the cost of all trials as joy! It’s so easy to get distracted by earthly things but longing to see Jesus face to face is so much more beautiful than anything this world could offer.
Honestly this lesson really challenged and convicted me about what my focus often is on and showed me just how often I tend to get distracted by earthly things. I might live with an overall cry of Maranatha but is that where my heart and mind are dwelling every moment of every day? How often do I think on eternal things? What am I doing to prepare for the end, for Jesus to return? If Jesus returned this very moment would I be prepared or would I be caught off guard? Am I really waiting and living expectantly for Jesus to return? I know these seem like such easy basic questions but actually answering them honestly how much do you think about eternal things versus what the next part of the day is? We’re not even promised tomorrow but how much more time do we spend thinking about it rather than heaven? Are you really living with a heart that is longing and waiting expectantly for Jesus to come back?
This lesson and my time working with Reindom really opened my eyes to what living with the cry of Maranatha really looks like. How much sweeter life can be when you’re focused on heaven and all that’s to come. How much sweeter life is when you’re actually living expectantly waiting for Christ to return! Looking to Jesus as the prize makes it so much easier to count the cost. So each day the Lord’s taught me just a little bit more about what it is to walk with a cry of Maranatha, to walk with my eyes fixed ever more on eternity with Jesus!
I know it’s been a bit since I’ve written a blog and this one is getting posted a couple weeks after I wrote it but thank you for taking the time to read this! If you have any questions or thoughts leave a comment or message me!
In Gods hands,
Emilee
MARANATHA 🔥