One or One-Thousand

Last fall, my husband and I enjoyed an incredibly dreamy, indulgent ten-day trip around France.  To celebrate 15 years of marriage and 40 years each of life, we wanted to take time out and acknowledge all that God has done in our lives and in our marriage along this journey. It is important. This concept of taking time out, the setting apart to reflect and celebrate, is not only helpful but also therapeutic at the same time. It is a marking of an end and a beginning and we were ready.

The funny part is that we ended up actually going on this trip over a year from when we intended to go, because…life. The year we actually turned 40, we didn’t feel like we had the financial or logistical freedom to make such a large investment in travel. When we actually celebrated 15 years of marriage, we weren’t able to get away. So, we waited a year. Then, just a month out from when we could actually make it work, we started planning the adventure. Sometimes travel doesn’t happen right when you think it will or should. Can I get an “amen”!? So, we said goodbye to 4 children, jumped on board a 9 hour flight, and over the following 10 days we explored and soaked up as much food, wine, scenery, and conversation as we could together.

Our journey began in Paris, continued on into the beautiful and prestigious Burgundy wine region of Beaune, up into the French Alps of Chamonix, down through Provence with its lavender-filled, charming medieval castles and villages, and wrapped up seaside in the French Riviera. I could write endless posts talking about each region and I just might to do that so I can remember every single detail.

We watched sunrises and sunsets over the Mediterranean, across the valleys of Provence, behind the Eiffel Tower, and just beyond the jagged Alpine mountain peaks. We walked down perfectly quiet streets in charming villages just after a brief rainfall where every surface glistened in the dim moonlight. We picnicked with my sister and her family in a Parisian park, dined at Michelin star restaurants serving the best five course meals, tasted wines we could never afford, and found as many Boulangeries as we possibly could. We breathed deeply and conversed to the same degree. We explored, adventured, feasted and rested.

As heavenly as each location was and as overwhelmed with beauty as we were, upon returning something profound hit me as I read and meditated upon this verse.

“For one day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

Blessed is the one who trusts in you.”

 Psalm 84:10,12

I asked myself : If I could have thousands of days in France or only one day in the presence of God, what would I choose? Could I honestly answer in my heart that the very best of life as I know it on earth totally and completely pales in comparison to what eternity holds for me if I trust in Jesus? Could I let it all go? Could I stop chasing the other things and run hard after the One?

If you have traveled anywhere for any length of time, we all know re-entry is the hardest part. The more responsibilities and dependents, the more complicated the coming home.  The laundry, the unpacking, the catching up on emails, not to mention the sheer jet lag. Then something special happens when there’s children involved: the whining, the neediness, the demands all feel larger and louder than before you left. It is the abrupt change that jolts the system. Every. Single. Time. And there’s sometimes a point that you stop and think, it was still worth it, right?  Am I the only one? It is like a game of Vacation v. Real Life, and “real life” feels like it dominates every time.

That vacation no matter how heavenly, no matter how long, still ends. There is a finite aspect to it no matter how desperately we try to make it not so. Even if we start planning the next vacation the minute we get home, we cannot out run the fact that our earthly pleasures, no matter how sweet, all come to an end.

What is left is the most telling part.  When all else fades, what do I hold on to during each regular mundane day for purpose and meaning, joy and significance, love and beauty? What keeps me going? What am I trusting in to fill my gaps of time and confidence in the routine of life?

Have you ever explored the unceasing pleasures that can be found in someone who transcends the fleeting pleasures of earth? As beautiful and lovely and amazing as the things we experience here and now, there is someone infinitely more beautiful and lovely that never ceases. 

Do you know that God is not merely a fictitious book character?

He is a living being so connected and involved in your life that he is extending an invitation for you to enter into an eternal feast with him. It is a feast better than the best French wine and cheese party known to man. It’s an invitation of adventure, a battle for faith, and an eternal inheritance far beyond your wildest imagination. He promises to satisfy our deepest longings. He promises to fulfill our chasms of want. He promises that a simple taste of His goodness and love will curb the greatest of appetites on earth. The best part? He never changes. In seasons of want, he is the same. In seasons of celebration and abundance, he is the same. In seasons of desert and despair, he is the same.

Better is one day in His courts than a thousand “on a dream vacation”.

Better is one day in His courts than a thousand “in a better marriage”.

Better is one day in His courts than a thousand “more financially stable”.

Better is one day in His courts than a thousand “finally with a family, a better body, a bigger house, a different job”? You fill in the blank.

Better is one day with Him, because he never changes and because his love never ends and I can trust him above all the fleeting pleasures this earth allows.

During the past few weeks of re-entry, I find myself singing the words of one of my favorite worship songs. These words ring in my head on every vacation and every return, in times of bliss in my marriage and times of disagreements, in times of rejoicing as a mother and in times of weary fetal position cries.

These words have become my heart’s prayer.

In all of my sorrows, Jesus is better.

Make my heart believe.

In every victory, Jesus is better.

Make my heart believe.

More than any comfort, Jesus is better.

Make my heart believe.

More than all riches, Jesus is better.

Make my heart believe.

With all of the riches on earth and gifts of life and travel that I have experienced, I still say He is better than all things. And with all of the places I have yet to visit, or life stages I have yet to experience, or dollar signs I have yet to see in my bank account, my heart can truly rest on the valuable riches that are in Christ for all eternity.