Hazel tells me, her financial planner, that she and her home have roots and foundations deep down in her yard. No way was she ever going to be forced out of her mobile home. But in her 90s she had no choice but to be uprooted to a nursing home. Was painful but necessary as it may be for us if blessed to live to a great age as Hazel did.
Somewhere within lurks the feeling that we're not at home yet. Uprooted. Strangers in this life. The joys of our early years often utterly vanish. Kids grow up and move away. Disputes happen that never heal. Death claims our heartstrings. Hearing diminishes. Sight dims. You name it and it's on its way out the backdoor.
I hear a similar echo in Psalm 119: 19--'I am a sojourner on the earth...' A traveler and wanderer hanging out at life's bus stop, not knowing that a labor strike has idled all transport. Hoping to put down roots, fearing that they lie barely under the soil's surface.
C. S. Lewis wrote in his book 'Mere Christianity' that we believers in Jesus have been parachuted behind enemy lines, landing in hostile territory, where we feel less than welcome. For, in fact, we are. There are numerous reasons for feeling left out in the cold. Even locked out. A primary one is that Satan has a bit of sway and swagger in this world. Not forever. Never for good. But often for here and now. Please don't mention my own complicity. Please!
No wonder we feel so out of place. The old song says--'This world is not my home. I'm just a-passin' through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue... And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.' Possibly you're feeling a bit out of sorts. Unwanted and uptight. Displaced.
Maybe it's because you're not home yet. There's no maybe about it. But someday, as the front door opens, Jesus will take you by the hand ushering you into the unimaginable, the unheard of, and what's presently unseen. And then we'll know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we're home.
Finally, home sweet home!
Lord Jesus, thank you for being with me always. Amen.
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