My last post seemed to resonate with many. (You can find it here.) It centered on the reality of remembering one truth when we become frustrated with this world, our fellow man, our government, or anything else pertaining to life on this earth. Friend, this world is not our home. No, we are waiting for our home that is yet to come.
For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven.
Hebrews 13:14 TLB
We know this, but sometimes we forget, right? Some days our circumstances consume our thoughts and capture our attention so much that our focus switches to the here and now and only on what’s right in front of us. Forgetting what’s to come. Forgetting the hope we have in our everlasting home.
But not today. Today, we pause to remember this truth. We halt our pace to allow this reality to sink in. We stop for just a moment to lift our gaze and look forward to our everlasting home in heaven.
So, what do we do with that? We’ve paused, we’ve remembered, we are encouraged. Now what? Well, friend, we wait. We wait for the what we know to be true to come to pass. We wait for our everlasting home. So, what do we do while we are waiting?
What do we do while we are waiting for our home?
Do we just sit and wait until God calls us home? Or do you and I just take up space here until the day Jesus returns to take us home? I think we both know that answer. I mean we could just sit and wait, but what kind of life would that be? God calls us to an abundant life, filled with hope and purpose. He invites us to make a difference for Him and for others. There’s a better way to wait. Here are a few ideas:
We cling to hope.
Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen.
Hebrews 11:1 TPT
No matter what happens while we are waiting, we cling to hope through the faith we have in God’s promises. We can trust He will do what He says He will do.
We get active.
All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, for there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end.
John 9:4 TLB
While we are waiting, this verse motivates me to get up and get going. I realize in this verse Jesus is referring to when He will be taken from this earth, but I can’t help but face the reality my work will come to an end some day, too. When my time on this earth is over. I must make the most of the time I have now.
We love.
Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40 TLB
Loving God and loving others is the most important commandments, according to Jesus. If He says they’re the most important, then that tells me they must be most most important things I can do in my day. As we are waiting, how are you and I loving others?
We shine God’s light.
And you, beloved, are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden. Similarly it would be silly to light a lamp and then hide it under a bowl. When someone lights a lamp, she puts it on a table or a desk or a chair, and the light illumines the entire house. You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it.
Matthew 5:14-16 VOICE
How do you and I illumine God’s creation? What good actions are others seeing in us, that point them to God? Does anyone praise God because of the ways we live while we are waiting?
There is much we can do while we wait for our home.
What did I miss? (Please share below.)
Most importantly, what are you and I doing in this season as we wait? As we may still get frustrated with this world or our fellow man? Above all, may we continue to keep our eyes fixed on truth and on the hope we have in Jesus. Today and every day until He welcomes us home.
What’s one thing you can do today while we are waiting?
Thanks for being here today, friend. You are loved!
I have been sending cards and notes to people I know who are in nursing homes or home bound. i know how much I enjoy getting mail so I hope this brightens their day.
Judith, this is such a gift and a blessing! To both you and the recipients of your cards. Such a joy bringer! Thank you for sharing this with me. I’m motivated to follow your example!