Not Home Yet...

Shortly after my dad passed away I was talking with a friend about being fatherless and they reminded me that God is A Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5) and it was the first time I could really relate to/claim that verse for myself. As I thought about the fact that heaven is now home to my earthly father as well as my Heavenly Father I longed for heaven like I never had before. God really began showing me that this world is not my home and it’s not what my soul longs for.

Around that time Building429 came out with a song, WhereI Belong, which quickly became a theme for my life that year, and now still.

God has reminded me of this fact lately with what’s been going on here, and as I’ve been reading in Hebrews these verses really stuck out to me the past few days… They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth… they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one… For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come (Hebrews 11:13b & 16a, 13:14).

So as I think about returning to the States in a few short weeks (seven to be exact) and don’t necessarily feel that that is really home, and as I don’t really feel like I’m at home in Haiti right now God is reminding me that I will never really feel like I’m at home until I’m with Him; That my soul will never fully be satisfied as long as I walk this earth.

I’m reminded to live life to the fullest, to walk in faith as those in Hebrews 11 did but to have my ultimate destination, heaven, always as my focus. 

These are the study notes on the above verses from Hebrews

11.13 That we are “strangers and foreigners” may be an awareness forced upon us by circumstances. It may come late in life or as the result of difficult times. But this world is not our home. We cannot live here forever. It is best for us not to be so attached to this world’s desires and possessions that we can’t move out at God’s command.

11.13-16 These people of faith died without receiving all that God had promised, but they never lost their vision of heaven (“a homeland”). Many Christians become frustrated and defeated because their needs, wants, expectations, and demands are not immediately met when they believe in Christ. They become impatient and want to quit. Are you discouraged because your goal seems far away? Take courage from these heroes of the faith who lived and died without seeing the fruit of their faith on earth, and yet continued to believe.

13.14 We should not be attached to this world, because all that we are and have here is temporary. Only our relationship with God and our service to him will last. Don’t store up your treasures here, store them in heaven (Matthew 6.19-21).