My friend, Larry, remembers spending a few childhood days with his younger cousin named Bill. Larry told me that the two of them had to stay once at their grandparents’ house out in the country. Larry and his little cousin Bill had a great time playing out by the barn, collecting eggs from the hen house, helping Granddad with chores. But after three or four days, the fun, like you can imagine, began to wear off. The novelty of being at Grandmom and Granddad’s had been all used up, and Larry and his little cousin became homesick.
But Bill was the little one; he was the one who was really homesick. Finally his granddad told Bill that his folks were coming for him the next afternoon. On the day his parents were to return for him, Bill plopped himself in his grandfather’s rocking chair right by the big picture window in the living room, looking out on the road. Larry told me he remembered passing by Bill a couple of times and watching him just rocking back and forth and staring at the gravel road out in front of the house. Bill, that little cousin of his, sat there for hours…
Finally, his grandfather came into the room and saw him sitting there, still as a stone, gazing intently at the gravel road. Granddad said to the little boy, “Bill, I swear, you’re going to look a hole right through that window.” But nothing could distract that little boy. Bill was on tiptoes waiting for that familiar 1954 blue-and-white Ford station wagon to come rolling along that country road in a cloud of dust.
Now that is a great picture of Romans 8, where it says that all of creation is waiting on tiptoe – we’re included in that. We are to wait eagerly, it says elsewhere in the Bible, waiting “on tiptoes” for the day when Jesus is going to return for us, He’s going to come back for us, calling us to heaven, and when He finally comes back to earth to set things right.
Oh, do you find yourself longing and looking forward to that glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ? We can’t wait in a dull, uninterested sort of way with an indifferent attitude. Maybe for you the novelty of this earth has begun to wear off; if so, you have every reason to rejoice in your hope—in spite of your hardships, in the face of whatever difficult life circumstances you may be enduring. It’s joy that makes you eagerly expect—like a big St. Bernard straining at the leash. Anticipation means stretching your necks... yearning, fervently hoping. Oh, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Wow!
If that’s the sort of attitude that nature has about the coming of that great day, you and I can learn a thing or two from creation all around us. Next time when you see a ray of sunlight suddenly pierce through a heavy, dark, afternoon sky, think about Romans 8. Think about a car coming down the gravel road with dust in its wake and all of creation waiting for Jesus to return—return for you. Because I tell you, you are welcome to bore a hole right through the window if you wish. The dust is going to stir, Jesus is going to return. You are on your tiptoes today. Don’t dare be caught flat-footed when he comes back!
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends