Have you ever lived in a place you knew you weren’t staying long? When we first moved to Atlanta in 1993 we lived in an apartment temporarily until we could move into our house. While I loved not having a yard and house to maintain it was unsettling to know we were in a temporary situation. It was uncomfortable, it was strange, it was not where we were meant to be – it was only temporary until our “permanent” home was ready.

Building 429 song’s “Where I Belong” describes this temporary and permanent home situation well: “All I know is I’m not home yet; This is not where I belong. Take this world and give me Jesus; This is not where I belong”

The bottom-line of this song is we are not designed for this world as the author of Hebrews states in 13:14 “For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our city in heaven, which is yet to come.”

This world is going to be filled with pain, sorrow, sadness, tragedy, trials. We are not ever going to be completely comfortable here. We are a square peg in a round hole.  So what are we to do in this place we don’t belong in?

Philippians 4:4-7 helps me to keep this world in the proper perspective and keep the eternal perspective in the forefront of my mind:

1. Verse 4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” God gives us an imperative to rejoice no matter what we are going through – He doesn’t say rejoice sometimes or rejoice when your job is going well, your spouse loves you and the kids are doing well in school – no He says rejoice always!
2. Verse 5 “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” I think we sometimes forget how near the Lord is; how soon He will be returning. I know I forget how short this time on earth really is especially in relation to eternity. And since our lives are but a short blip Paul is reminding us to be gentle and be kind to everyone.
3. Verse 6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Paul tells us to not worry but to pray to allow God to change our perspectives, change our hearts.
4. Then the promise in verse 7 “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  The promise that if we rejoice always, be gentle to all and pray to God we will have the ultimate blessing here on earth – peace.

We are not home yet; we don’t belong here.  But while we are here we can have peace and that peace is only found in our wonderful Savior.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

In His Service,

Ed

Related verse: John 14:27

Related post: Hope Floats?