Your room

Me in 2012, shortly after my husband converted a bedroom in our San Jose house into a library/office.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that 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)

I heard someone talking about this verse above, wondering, “What would my room look like?” Of course, the whole thing is a metaphor. A mansion with many rooms is a way for us, with our tiny human brains, to get a small understanding of the promise we have from God that we will be with him in eternity—and are in him now.

I did start to wonder, what would my room look like? What would be in it? What do I love? What makes me happy? Books of course. My room would have bookshelves full of books. A ladder for the high bookshelves would be cool. Comfy arm chairs with warm lamplight. Maybe dusky green or pink walls. Windows. A window seat! Pens and paper. Lovely art on the walls and around the room. Maybe some kind of handiwork—colored pencils, embroidery. (I am fortunate to have a space already that contains much of this.)

I could expand the idea to include people, food, nature, and on and on, but that could go on forever. What about you? What do you think your imaginary room would contain? What do you like having around you? What makes you feel happy?

The message I get from this passage is the wonderful knowledge that I am now and will be forever in and with God. His love is in me. I don’t understand, really, exactly what that means—God’s love being in me and me being in him, but I trust in his love.

A related image I find comforting is God being before me (as in the above verse, Jesus goes before us to prepare a place), God behind me, God above me, God below me, God beside me.

I hope and pray you trust in God’s love, too.