Sleep was hard to come by last night. The forest crickets outside seemed extra loud, and the wall clock was doing a click-click instead of a tick-tick. I tried not to keep checking the glowing-green digital hours as they passed, but if the mind can’t be quieted, the body won’t rest.

When I asked myself, “What are you worried about?” my brain flooded with answers. Of greatest concern was an upcoming trip. Running through a mental check list in the dark, I couldn’t remember if I had or hadn’t tended to certain duties. Had I even written them down? And if so, where were they? Maybe on misplaced Post-it notes?

No one can sleep with a pounding heart, so the only thing to do was get up and make the list. Surely I’d drift off quickly after that, once everything was out of my head and inked on a hard copy.

Traveling produces anxiety for two reasons: (1) worry about forgetting something important (like my passport… again); (2) not having a travel companion to share preparations and second-guess me (formerly Nate).

Some people refuse to go anywhere because of this kind of pre-travel stress. I totally get that. But whether we like to travel or not, there’s one trip all of us will be required to make eventually, the one from this world to the next. When I think of the extensive planning for a journey from one earthly place to another (including mind-wrestling the details during the night), I wonder if I’ve taken the same care with my off-the-earth trip.

Maybe because that seems distant with ample time to prep, I’m not stressed right now. I’ve never lost a night’s sleep worrying about it. But really, why haven’t I?

Christ Jesus will be waiting for me at the other end of that supernatural travel day, so being ready is critical. Scripture says he’ll welcome me with open arms, but it also says he’ll have a few questions for me on topics like idle words, insincere motives, hidden sins. Will I have prepared well enough for all that?

The answer is yes.

The only preparation needed will have been my alignment with Jesus before I stand in front of him, followed by having kept short accounts concerning my sins and faults. Once forgiven, always forgiven, and that’s his rule, not mine.

It’s possible I might lose some more sleep over my upcoming trip, but because I believe the words of the Bible, I know I won’t lose one wink of it wondering if I’ve made adequate preparations for my journey to Jesus.

Jesus… “is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” (Jude 1:24)