Sometimes it feels like I’m watching from the outside
Sometimes it feels like I’m breathing but am I alive
I won’t keep searching for answers that aren’t here to find
All I know is I’m not home yet
This is not where I belong
Take this world and give me Jesus
This is not where I belong
So when the walls come falling down on me
And when I’m lost in the current of a raging sea
I have this blessed assurance holding me
When the earth shakes I wanna be found in You
When the lights fade I wanna be found in You
Building 429
writer(s): Jason Ingram, Jason Roy
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For this world is not our permanent home;
we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
Hebrews 13:14
Picture this…you and your family are staying in a condo on the beach. You love the view so much but the condo not so much. You don’t like the paint or the window treatments. You really would want to replace the rugs and the bathroom tile. Are you going to go to Home Depot and start a remodeling project? Remember, you’re only there for a week. Your home is actually somewhere else…this is just a temporary place for a vacation.
This world, though we may like parts of it, is just our “vacation condo” and Heaven is our home. We are here only for a bit; and, while we are here, our job is to lead others to Jesus and to invest in our Heavenly home. We all find ourselves longing for the Home that He has promised when this world is so hard and comes at us from all directions. What joy that can bring us as His children!
But our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body,
by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself.
Philippians 3:20-21
God created us to live here in this world that He created. He gave us beautiful scenery that we can enjoy, sunsets and sunrises, mountains covered in snow and the white beaches with blue oceans crashing onto them. That’s how much He loves us. We don’t deserve any of it; yet He gave it to us. He also gives us grace to cling to when we have done so much that we wish we could take back.
I have seen this past week a teen lose her life to a horrible disease that she had been battling since the age of 14. She left a legacy like you wouldn’t believe. She made the most of this temporary home and she never took any of it for granted. And now she is in her Home with Jesus. But those left here are truly hurting and longing for the day that they will meet up with her again. And I am sure they have many questions….
God made us a promise that this world would be hard but that He would help us overcome it. He sent Jesus as an example of how to do it and He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us. So when it feels like you can’t go on one more minute, please remember that He is coming again and that we should finish this life strong and help others to do the same. Oh…and that condo that you’re thinking of remodeling while on vacation? I wouldn’t spend too much on getting it perfect. You can’t take it with you!
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Let’s pray: Dear Jesus, thank You for going to prepare a place for us beside You in heaven! Sometimes this world gets to be too much for us. We stress and give up, forgetting that in a blink of an eye, You will be coming to get us. Lord, we are so ready…but please help us while we are here waiting. Help us to invest in those things that are going to benefit our Home with You one day. Keep us from harm and thank You for loving us so much! And for that family that lost so much this past week…we lift them up and all the others that have lost loved ones too soon. Please give them comfort and somehow let them know that their “babies” are okay with You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Thank you, Kim, for this good reminder to not think of this as our permanent home. I’m thankful for what God is providing here, but I’m even more excited about what He is preparing for us in Heaven. I certainly want to share that Good News with others.
I’m praying along with you, and especially for that family who is grieving the loss of their sweet daughter. <3