Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you with me, so that you can be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-4

Have you ever felt that uncomfortable pressure you feel when it’s time to leave a place and move on? It could be a sensitivity that you no longer feel you belong. Like when you left home to get married and you go back for a visit. It’s good to be there, but you no longer have the sense of ‘belonging’ anymore. They’ve re-purposed your old room, moved on with their lifestyle, no longer do they live their lives revolved around you.

I felt that when the Lord called us to move to Florida. I loved our home, our church and friends. Our family was there, our girls and grandkids. I wanted to go but I wanted to stay. Everything was good. I knew it was a choice, that God would never force us to do what we were unwilling to do. So many people advised us not to leave, that it was a mistake and that God didn’t work that way. It came down to a simple decision–follow God or follow man.

Abram had it good in his fathers land. His life was most comfortable right where he was. But God spoke to him, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”(Genesis 12:1-3 NASB) And he picked up, packed up and left.

I’m sure he met with opposition from every side. Family and friends probably tried to convince him to stay, that it was irresponsible to leave the protection of your tribe to go out into the unknown. But when God becomes your choice, He also becomes your everything and pursuing Him and His plans are the only thing that matters. You choose to place your hand in His and follow wherever He leads.

It would serve us all to remember that this world is not our home, we’re simply here on assignment. We must consider the assignment a very temporary one. Some of us may be coming to the end of our assignment, while others are just getting their instructions. We can still enjoy the visit, forge relationships, share meals, even marry and have children, but our final destination is a house Jesus is preparing for us. There will always be a room there that is our own that will never be re-purposed.

Today as you go about your Fathers business, keep your eyes and ears open for your next assignment, but don’t allow the things of this world to be what keeps you here. We are not of this world. Let’s do life for God so that when it’s time, we’ll be welcomed back where our real home is and enjoy the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Waiting,

Sandy G