This World is Not My Home

Jesus Calling March 10th
You are Mine for all time - and beyond time, into eternity. No power can deny you your inheritance in heaven.  I want you to realize how utterly secure you are! Even if you falter as you journey through life, I will never let go of your hand.
Knowing that your future is absolutely assured can free you to live abundantly today. I have prepared this day for you with the most tender concern and attention to detail. Instead of approaching the day as a blank page that you need to fill up, try living it in a responsive mode: being on the lookout for all that I am doing. This sounds easy, but it requires a deep level of trust, based on the knowledge that My way is perfect.
Psalm 37:23-24
Psalm 18:30

The last couple of months have been very hard on our family.  Overwhelming amounts of confusion and hurt in several realms of life have caused me to really stop and try and see how God is working in and through our circumstances. On my worst days, I have found myself saying "this world is not my home"...because the reality is, I am not meant to feel comfortable here.  God's promise for me is an eternity in Heaven...home, with Him. I feel like when we are faced with unexpected change, disappointment and hard decisions, it should prompt us to seek an even deeper dependency on God.  When we get too comfortable, we are at risk of being deceived by 'our' efforts, 'our' accomplishments and 'our' ways.  We lose sight of the perfection in God's ways and the trust required to stay hopeful in that.

Life keeps moving forward while we are gasping for air.  There seems to be no regard for our desperate need to process and understand the why's in what is happening around us, and to us.  I don't get it and I find myself feeling very isolated and unloved.  But then I am reminded that I have a choice to make; I can choose to feel defeated in 'my' efforts and 'my' ways or I can step back and embrace who has been holding my hand all along.  The choice is hard and we forget, because the pain is very real in this place that is not our home.  But if we can take in that deep breath and feel the freedom in 'knowing that our future is absolutely assured', we can find the strength we need to take our next steps in grace and in love.

I am finding myself focused on these things ~ How God is working in these circumstances...how my faith and my trust in Him are being strengthened...how I am responding inwardly and outwardly.  A dear friend reminded me today that "there is something He wants to accomplish that can only be brought about through these circumstances"...and I believe that.

Psalm 18:30 "As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord's word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him."
Psalm 37: 23-24 "The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand."

Today I am choosing to feel shielded and upheld.  I am choosing to feel loved, not abandoned...and encouraged, not defeated.  This world is not my home...every day is a new day, but the pages are not blank.  When we can stop, take a breath and choose to be on the lookout for all that God is doing, we can move forward, uncomfortable, but full of peace and joy.

~Whitney