Aching for His Presence
Friend, Jesus is preparing a place for you even today, a place where you will be with Him forever.
Rather than feeling the loss of his presence, receive hope from the words Jesus chose to speak to His disciples just before His crucifixion:
In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
As Jesus speaks these words from John 14, He is reclining around the table with his disciples. His last supper with them has been eaten. Judas has left the room to begin the unfolding of the betrayal. Jesus continues, “I’ll be with you for a little while. Once I am gone, you will seek me, but I am going where you cannot come.”
The loss of their Teacher, their Master, their friend, weighs heavily on the disciples. Jesus was going away, yet they must remain here without Him. Did He even care about them? Jesus continues speaking and provides a glimmer of hope. “Now you cannot follow me. But someday, one day, you will follow Me.” I have a plan, He seems to say. This plan includes you!
And then He speaks the words that have been such a balm to my soul: “In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
We can imagine the preparation of earthly dwellings. Walls, paint colors, beautiful design elements. But what does the preparation of a heavenly dwelling involve? It is a thought beautiful beyond our comprehension. Day after day, year after year, as we long for His return, as we long for His presence, Christ is doing an ongoing work of preparation in the heavenlies expressly for each of us. He is preparing a place for each of his children.
“I will come again.” This promise, spoken to the hurting, confused hearts of his disciples, is life to our sometimes weary hearts as well. “I will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Jesus is coming, one day, to bring you to this beautiful place that has been prepared for you. You are not forgotten. Rather, you are ever on his mind, and the preparations for your arrival are ongoing, all leading up to the moment when you will be restored forever to His presence.
A Final Thought: If you have been feeling forgotten, and have been aching for the reality of Christ’s presence, meditate on this truth. Jesus is in heaven preparing a place for you. He is turning His thoughts toward you and making preparations for the time when you will be with Him forever. As a bridegroom prepares for his bride, as parents prepare for the return of their prodigal, be confident that your Creator is preparing a place for you, longing to be with you even as you long to be with Him.
