Daily Devotional for Saturday, April 13

Paul Was Anxious To Visit

“But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire,” 1 Thessalonians 2:17.

As the small prop plane gathered speed, bumped along the grass airstrip and lifted into the air, sorrow hit hard. Loaded down with thoughtful parting gifts and incredible memories, we were leaving the Yetfa area and ending our full-time service among the people we had come to love. It was time. The Lord had shown very clearly it was time for them to spread their wings. It was time for them to rely on the Lord instead of us as missionaries. He needed us to move on to the next adventure.

Not a day has gone by that I do not think about returning. I wonder how they are doing, how the kids are growing, how the village has changed, and how our house is holding up in the jungle. I pray for them to be strong in the Lord and continue serving Him. I pray for the translation team as they translate more of God’s Word for their people. I know and trust the Lord that we are here for His good purposes, but I long to go visit my other home and my dear friends.

I understand Paul’s words: to be separated in presence but not in heart. His heart, like mine, stayed with the Thessalonian believers. He greatly desired to see their faces again. Because they trusted the gospel he brought to them, they will be his joy when Christ returns. As in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-23; Luke 19:11-19) where the servants stood before the master and showed what they had accomplished, Paul will stand beaming before the Lord with the Thessalonian believers by his side. They are the fruits of his labor.

THOUGHT
May we each stand beaming before the Lord with our own crowd of believers by our side.

Kelli Reynolds