What is a home?
When COVID-19 first spread across the globe in 2020, people’s homes became a place of isolation to prevent the spread of the virus. Senior citizens in nursing homes and assisted living centers were shut in and away from family. Some went months, a year, without an embrace from a loved one. For many, their home became a place of dread; a place where the “four walls were closing in.”
Before COVID-19 changed the world, home for Rick and I was going to look much different. When Rick retired in January 2020, we sold the majority of our belongings and in February we set off to live as nomad retirees for the next year or two. No home, no home base. We were free to roam.
Many times we qualify home with our physical comforts and a place of familiarity where family and friends gather. People questioned why we weren’t going to have a “home” base to return to.
“Home” wasn’t going to be defined by how we had always known it, i.e., a building we could call our own. We felt God wanted us detached from the things of this world, and this gave us the freedom to stay longer if we felt that was his will.
After two weeks of vacation, I’m usually ready to get home to my familiar surroundings. Those familiar surroundings consist primarily of what is tangible, i.e., my bed, my pillow, my bathroom, etc.
We made our way to another vacation rental in early 2020 when I began praying about the days to come. I felt disconnected from the world, but in a way that was from things. I was free to live for the Lord in a way I had never been able to before. It was liberating on so many levels.
Surprisingly, after several weeks of living on the road, I had no desire to return to what I defined as home, but I began to wonder if I would hit a breaking point four, six, ten months into our travels. Would I need a place of my own, a building, a bed I could call my own again? I didn’t think so.
Nevertheless, living this newfound freedom in an environment I could not call my own I was listening to others trying to grasp why we wouldn’t have a home base. So I went to the Lord with these thoughts. I asked the Lord, “what is home?”
A second did not go by when I heard the gentle voice of the Lord speak into my spirit, “HOME IS WHERE I AM.”
John 14:23 states “Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.” Home is where he is and where he wants me to be.
Like most, our plans in 2020 were altered due to COVID-19. It was during this time God changed our course and travel plans were put on hold.
He restructured his home in us first. Our hearts were surrendered and willing to go where he wanted us to. Though we had no plans on settling in one location, God thought otherwise. He provided a home base in an unexpected destination that we now call home from the world’s perspective. We don’t know how long he will keep us here, but what does not change is that our true home is and will remain where God is.
When your peace is fading, fill your mind with the promises of God. COVID continues to wreak havoc on the world. While the world is confused on what is best, lockdowns vs. no lockdowns, we have nothing to fear.
We must know God and find refuge in him. When we spend time in his presence and pour into the Word, we can walk confidently and consistently free of confusion, frustration, doubt, fear, or worry. Below are verses to ponder and pray through until you believe and walk in the assurance that your peace does not come from a building, but from God himself. Home is where God is. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27
Photo by Samuel Martins on Unsplash
Peace comes from knowing your future: Know that you are God’s beloved. Believe that Christ has prepared a home for you in heaven and for all eternity. John 3:16; John 11:25-26; John 14:1-3; Colossians 3:4
Live by faith: Psalm 91:1-6; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:21-25; Hebrews 11:1; Revelation 21:8
A life absent of fear, anxiety, or doubt: Psalm 23:4; Isaiah 41:10, 13; Philippians 4:6-7; 2 Timothy 1:7
“For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee, he has given us his Holy Spirit. So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.”
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
