6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2 Corinthians 5:6-10
If there has been one main point I have noticed over the last 4 years, (From our move to Texas), it has been meeting people from so many OTHER places that have moved here. It seems to be almost a daily event when introduced to new people that their stories reveal their home was elsewhere.
With our own family, each member has noticed the void of friendships that were strained when we packed up our lives and moved across the country to this NEW HOME. The kids all express their feelings of loss when the move occurred and of course Heather and I also have noticed that building new friendships, meeting new neighbors and joining a new church may have been the most difficult tasks that we have journeyed through. As of recent, we have been practicing the disciplines of respect and mannerisms, most well known throughout the south to be much different than those of where we came from. Remembering the simple, “yes sir” and “yes ma’am” has become a daily effort for all of is among the other new habits we are trying to form living here in Texas.
I am not sure of the original foundation of the quote, but remembering from the movie Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio states to a new friend, “Home is where you hang your hat.”.
Something to ponder for us now as we do see new relationships forming, new involvement raised in our local Church, and new opportunities to be part of this local community. How similar to comparison with our faith?
For often we read in the scripture that God calls us “not to be of this world” but to live in it as aliens. For we, as believers, are to be different than the world, lights set on a hill, yet to integrate ourselves into the world in a way that will show HIS LIGHT to others.
Can it be lonely and discouraging? Yes. Can it be scary and difficult to set new foundations? Yes.
Those fears and hesitations bring me back to God’s promises. God’s promise of life everlasting and blessings beyond comprehension that can be hard to grasp while living in a foreign land… so we must make the effort. “Home is where you hang your hat.”
It’s not about us, it’s not about where we came from and how we got to where we are… it’s about what we do right now that matters. Take your inventory this morning of everything you look at, type on, surf through, speak of …. spend time or money on…
Are they things of absolute eternal value? or are they trivial and unimportant in comparison to God’s purpose?
What matters? Who matters? Are you hung up on longing for the normal comforts you have accustomed yourself to or are you ready to engage in the foreign land? I’m speaking not only to my family but to myself when I ask these questions? God has, does, and will KEEP PROVIDING everything I need to sustain life and work the gospel into myself and those around me…. what will I do with it?
Barnabas Man 