How do we know The Way?

My devotional and study this morning brought some renewal to my spirit that I needed today. I’m finding in my pursuit of the Father this year, there is freedom I had not yet tapped into in my faith journey and it is providing a new burst of peace to my heart and mind. John 14 is my focus today and I’m trying to picture the scene, the Disciples asking Jesus for a better understand of Who He is and Where He is going to prepare a place for us in heaven. It is truly a frozen moment in time, causes me to stop in my own faith journey and consider, “How well do I know the Father and do I fully trust and believe He has a place for me in Heaven?” What an incredible thing to consider, Jesus was with them in the flesh, spent years with His disciples. They knew Jesus in a way we never will, and yet….they couldn’t grasp Who He was, not completely. How could they not know and believe Who He was when He was right there with them, in the flesh? To consider this struggle, in comparison with our own is just not something I think can be compared. I can’t get past it. He was with them, in the flesh, speaking, performing miracles, healing, raising the dead, bringing sight to the blind, healing the sick, and yet they didn’t get Who He truly was. We don’t have Jesus in the flesh like the disciples did, but we have the Word of God, the written account of His life and its impact on so many and the Holy Spirit residing in us. Why is it such a difficult thing to grasp? Why is it so hard, day to day, to know the Father is always with us and is always for us? We have an opportunity every single day to live out our faith, be an example to others, because He is busy preparing Heaven for each and every one of us as we come to know Him and commit our lives to Him. His timing is not our timing, and is in fact something we cannot possibly comprehend. So, the only way we can possibly understand any of this, the point of our time on this earth, believing even though we cannot see with our eyes, hear with our ears, touch with our hands……He has loved us so deeply and because of what He allowed His Son to endure for our sake, we can most certainly wait a little longer and believe beyond our own understanding that He is Who He says that He is.

Faith is what keeps us going, keeps us motivated, keeps us hoping, believing in something far beyond this pitiful and miserable world. There’s a lot this world can offer that seems perfect and good, but ultimately nothing we find here will last. It is all going to fade, wither, and blow away in the wind. What we know to be lasting and worth hoping for, waiting for, making the best of this life for, is eternity with our Father God. I can’t explain it, and there is still so much I don’t know, but I know the God who has all the answers. I believe He loves me, has purposed me for far better than what I can dream up for myself, and I will choose to live my life well today knowing He is taking care of it all for me.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am (John 14:1-3, NIV).