Christians are people on the move.
On this side of Eternity not one place here or set of circumstances is permanent , nor our lasting home. So we live day by day knowing we are journeying to our promised rest.
For some Christian families the seen reality of our lives is a tangible expression of that unseen truth: that we haven’t made it yet to our permanent home. For our family it has been all the pain, grief and loss that comes from life overseas, chronic health issues and food allergies, among other things.
For your family it may be other circumstances: a child with autism, all kinds of loss, an impending death or serious illness, or dealing with the complex world of trauma. Or, it may be other forms of suffering -maybe not incredibly traumatic but constant and draining nonetheless.
But that is exactly why I am so grateful that our Father didn’t leave us alone to journey home to him. He gave us the assurance of his presence. His faithful love encircles and embraces all our realities and circumstances here. As we move onward and upward (through fire and storm), he moves with us in cloud and fire. This is his glory: that his love never stops.
We join millions of God’s people throughout the history of redemption who have had the surety of his home with them, him always moving toward them – in the garden, tabernacle, temple and ultimately in Christ who came to dwell with us. Now his spirit lives in us as the guarantee of the day we will hear a loud voice saying,
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man” (Revelation 21:3-4).
Dear friend, our homes are homes in motion – moving toward THAT day. Because his fierce and tender love never leaves us, we actually remain unmovable in the one permanent circumstance that Christ bought for us with his life, death and resurrection.
And while our kids may not yet know the Father through Christ we can teach them to abide, stay, remain in his love. As we talk to them about their sin and their need of a Savior, we tell them how we never repel him if we come to him needy and weak.
He is always saving, helping, keeping, loving…giving us in Himself the home that brings to our real, permanent, fully satisfying home.
Aylín Merck 