This Changes Everything

Toni M. Babcock

“On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14:20 CSB)

We’ve all heard the old axiom ‘Wherever you go, there you are’ — a kind of fatalistic resignation to self-assured defeat. 

We might interpret it this way, ‘Don’t be surprised if you fail in the new place you’re going, the same as you did in the old. 

After all, ‘Wherever you go, there you are!’

 
Well, there is some unpleasant truth to this axiom. 

It’s true we just might manifest the same old temperament, or the same old annoying personality trait that has instigated problems in some area of our lives as before.

But what if self-assured defeat could be changed to Christ-assured victory? 

So that ‘wherever you go, there you are’ is transformed into ‘wherever I am, there Jesus is’? 

Believer, this is the overcoming breakthrough so many of us have been longing for.

 
Once we recognize ‘wherever I am, there Jesus is’, we stop feeling ‘less than’ or rejected around others. 

We are able to handle suffering and learn to smile through adversity. 

We know Jesus is at work in our lives no matter how others might make us feel, and His word is true regardless of our circumstances.

Plus, when we live in the truth ‘wherever I am, there Jesus is’ we begin to see the good Jesus is doing in our lives and others – and we find it easier to walk by faith. 

We believe Jesus is praying along with us when we pray, and loving along with us when we love. 

In like manner, we won’t want to engage in anything that would bring dishonor to His Name, like reading something Jesus wouldn’t read or watching something Jesus wouldn’t watch, or doing or saying anything that Jesus wouldn’t do or say; because when we truly believe the truth, ‘wherever I am, there Jesus is’ — this changes everything.

 
Toni is author of Reflections from the Heart in Light of the Gospel of Jesus, and The Stone Writer, Christian Fiction for Young Readers and Teens. Contact