Romans 15:32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed.

All sorts of results are possible when people visit each other, and Paul is rightly praying that his planned visit to Rome (which certainly didn’t happen in the way he planned it) would turn out for everyone’s mutual benefit. Paul isn’t being presumptuous, but explicitly making his plans subject to God’s will. When the visit is from a distance, the impact, in one way or another, can be magnified. In those days, travel was a big deal, and nowhere near as convenient as today, but even today we should seek to be carriers of refreshment (and not just refreshments) wherever we go.

This could hardly be more timely, because our daughters are currently visiting us from the US, and my wife and I leave this morning to visit Tokyo. The distance our daughters traveled would have been unimaginable in Paul’s day, and even from here to Tokyo would have taken over a week at the fastest, but the human factors remain the same. Our daughters are refreshing us, and will continue to do so when we get back from Tokyo, and my wife and I are to be God’s agents to refresh the people at the gathering in Tokyo. As Paul wrote in the chapter just before this, “For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone.” (Romans 14:7) God didn’t create us to be isolated, but to interact with one another for good. The first mention of that in the Bible is actually the foundation for marriage, where God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18) However, much less intimate and permanent relationships are included in that. Any time we visit someone, be it across the street or around the world, we should seek to be God’s instruments of blessing to them, as well as be open to receive whatever God wants to do for us through them.

Father, thank You for this extremely timely reminder. I do ask for Your protection and guidance as we go to Tokyo. The people in the Cockayne Syndrome Network do seem to be blessed by Cathy’s and my presence, but I ask for Your anointing to be Your agents to them in every way You intend. Thank You that we’ll be meeting a new family in the network this morning at the airport, even though they can’t go to this year’s meeting. I pray that Ruth and Ann would likewise be precisely in the flow of Your plans during the days we’ll be apart. May we all rejoice to be Your agents, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!