HOME IS WHERE GOD HAS YOU!

“O give me a home where the buffaloes roam
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day”

I still remember that hurtful day, when I was tossed out of my own house by my wife, whom I had lived with for five years.  My comfort zone, the place I was accustomed to, the place I called home, was now gone.  It was like a rug pulled out from under me and suddenly I found myself in need of a roof over my head.  Thankfully, my brother in law was gracious enough for me to live with him.  In eight more days at the time I am writing this, it will be two years of me living at my brother in law’s house.  I did not expect to be here so long.  In fact, I planned on moving out a few weeks ago.  A good Christian friend of mine had a tenant move out of his house and he was kind enough to offer me his place.  I had been over to his house a couple of times before, and so I agreed to his terms and the plans were all set for my move.  I was so excited, I posted to everyone on Facebook, about how I’m moving forward in my life and what a blessing this was going to be for me.  The big day for the move arrived.  I rented a U-haul van and loaded up the vehicle with what little stuff I had and drove off with an anticipation of my new adventure.  Of course when I got there, the first thing I did, was to check out the bedroom where my two children and myself would be sleeping.  The moment I walked in, I was caught off guard.  The room was filthy, from the carpet to the beat up old mattress I’d be sleeping on.  A strange smell even permeated the room.  The carpet had black stains all over it and when I checked out the closet, I discovered black and greenish mold growing on the walls.  That was when I asked my friend to check out the mold and he apologized, not realizing it was there before.  He even told me that the last tenant moved out cause he was always getting sick all the time.  “Well, no wonder”, I thought to myself. There was no way I was going to put myself and my kid’s health in jeopardy. He offered to bleach it but something in my heart told me that this wasn’t to be.  So, I thanked him anyway, headed back to my brother in laws and unpacked everything out of the van and moved myself back in.  So much for the big moving day.  I’m kicking myself for not being wise and inspecting the house in the first place.  After that, I was so depressed and frustrated, and even embarrassed.  I remember questioning God, and wondering why can’t I just get a break in my life?  As I’m writing this, my circumstances still haven’t changed and I’m still searching for my “home on the range”.  I still feel at times unsettled and stagnant. When I want to move, God closes the door. I’ve put in for job promotions, I’ve looked around for homes, apartments, roommate sites, and still nothing.  I want to find that place where the deer and the antelope play, but like the U2 songwriter Bono says, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”.   But God always comes through for me and He spoke to me this week.  He encouraged and reminded me that He still has a purpose and a plan for me in the midst of the very situation where I don’t want to be.  In fact, He wants to use me in that very place.  He showed me the passage in Jeremiah 29:11.  I’m sure you’re familiar with it, it’s on every Christian refrigerator magnet or picture that hangs on our bathroom walls.  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” You see in the context of this particular passage, Jeremiah is addressing the Jews, who are in exile.  They have been displaced from their homes and are living in Babylonian captivity.  What’s interesting here, is that God is telling the Jews to live, to grow, to take wives, be fruitful and multiply.  He didn’t tell them, I’m going to deliver you then when you return home, I’m going to bless you.  For he says,earlier in the same chapter,

4 “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 

5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 
6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.”
God wanted the Jews to stay where they were and He wanted them to make the most of their lives while they were in exile.  Did you know that as Christians we too are living on this earth as exiles while we wait for Jesus to ultimately take us home forever with Him?  We are commanded to be “in this world but not of this world”.  In other words, live this life but stand out and be different.  Yes, it is true, it would be better if at the moment we accepted Jesus in our lives, we were beamed up into heaven like in an episode of Star Trek but that’s not God’s plan.  He has us here and He wants us to live to the fullest even if it’s not our real home.  So, where do you find yourself?  Do you feel like you’re not progressing fast enough?  Do you find yourself stuck in a situation that’s just not your home?  Maybe it’s a mundane job you can’t seem to get out of, or an unfulfilled dream. Perhaps it’s a toxic relationship you’re wanting to get out of or a relationship you want to be in but you have to wait because it’s not God’s right timing. And so you find yourself in this holding place and it sucks and you want things to change.  It’s okay to want to improve, it’s okay to set goals and try and move forward but in the meantime, don’t forget that God wants to use you in your situation where you’re at now.  Home is the place where He has you at.  If He hasn’t delivered you yet from your present circumstances, don’t get discouraged, change your prayers up. Ask Him how you can be used in your present day circumstances to bless someone now.  I find it interesting that God’s purpose for the Jews to be fruitful in their captivity was not just for their own good but to bless those around them.   For He says, “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 
Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves and looking inwardly, let’s look outwardly and make the most of what God has given us for the blessings of others.  So, as I write to you, my circumstances are still the same.  Yet in the midst of what I’m still going through, I thank Him.  I thank Him that He has a plan in all of this, to prosper me and not to harm me and to give me hope and a future.  And I will continue to do what I do best.  I WILL WRITE.  I will always write, in the good times and in the times when I feel like I’m in exile.  I write because it’s not just for me, but it’s to bless others.  I write these blogs because I know that there is someone who needs to hear this, someone like me who is calling out for hope in their exile.  I write this for you and I don’t know exactly who you are but I want you to know that I love you and I pray that whomever you are, that you know and remember that God loves you more.  So, what are you waiting for? Live your life where you are at. Watch God work in you, watch God fill you with His peace and satisfaction because you’re with Him and He is with you and where He is, that is your true home. 
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.