THIS IS NOT MY HOME

Life on the job has been very tough for many of us this past year; and it stands to increase as new changes keep coming. Actually life, in general, has gotten very tough period...with all the unemployment, cutbacks, overwork, underpaid, sad economy, health issues, natural disasters, corruption, and every depressing thing. People are having a difficult time trying to smile much less be happy. This ought not be so for the Christian? How can St. Paul keep encouraging to people to be happy, be content, be joyful...their world was as violent and vile as ours, if not more so---what are we missing?

I was fighting and praying and struggling and ready to throw in the towel and go somewhere else for a job! Every time I prayed, God said, "no". Alrighty then, why must I stay here and how do I do that? God did not intend for me to hypnotize myself, delude myself and pretend evil does not exist, or some other weird deception. I was beginnning to hate the people I work with, the customers I met, the company that employed me, and none of this was evidence of a grateful heart. Oh how easy it is to lose sight of truth, to become carnal, to see things through human rationale and raw emotion!

All the devil needs is a tiny crack to slither through...just a simple opening that we may not be aware of--and his venom begins to affect the mind, the heart and then the soul. A friend battling cancer once told me that we are to be wary of H.A.L.T. hunger, anger, lonliness, and tiredness--these were avenues that we can become weakened and ripe for attack. Well anger at the way people treat others and sorrow for the victims, is a good bait! Tiredness, from working hard, without true appreciation, and the constant demand for more...ahhh another trap. There was two strikes against me...I had been targeted and did not even know it.

My heart was heavy, my mind was raging, and my soul was exhausted...stealing my strength, my joy, and my focus. I kept praying, reading, and listening to music, all the things that usually worked...but it was not getting better. Then out of the blue, God sent a man as a new employee...he was a Christian! I had heard a song on the radio that just sparked a tiny bit of fresh fire in me. So I went to get the CD, and this man raved about having seen them in concert, which led to many conversations. The new CD, from its first words---like God speaking directlly to me...this is not my home...no it is not! This is not all there is!

Hebrews 11:13, came to mind..."These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were ..."Strangers and Pilgrims" on the earth". That is me!! I am a stranger and a pilgrim! This is not my home! The best is yet to come!

The apostles and saints lived in daily struggles and yet they knew deep in their souls...this is not it! All the prophecies will be fulfilled and all the promises...and I began to meditate on the promises and the descriptions of Heaven.

We will not die. People we love we shall see alive again. He will give us the desires of our hearts. The lame will walk, the deaf will hear, the blind will see...and all that the curse has ruined shall be renewed; because Christ has redeemed all of His Creation! There will be no fear, no sorrow, no sickness, no darkness, no evil, nothing impure, and all will be just and righteous! All will be pure, holy and truth...

Of course, that means this raspy, off key, out of tune singing voice will be wonderfully enchanting, my joints won't ache, no worries, no outcasts, no fear of flying stinging insects, no hunger, no doctors or meds or bills, no wars, no anger, no shame....awesome is it not? And my desire to see the beauty of the ocean, I am pretty sure I will see not only that, but Niagara falls or someting similar, and the Mountains, and Europe will be as enticing in its pure form...hmmmm? I will be loved, accepted and known...and so will those I love! I will get to see how all things worked together and for purposes only the Father could have known and how beautifully He brought them to fruition...in ways I could never comprehend in the human form...in my limited state of being.

So how to get there from here? I remembered a poster I made for children's church--"Let go and Let God!" Yes, I am a stranger here on earth, on a journey that will end up in bliss...nonetheless, I have to make the journey. God's Ways and Thoughts are not ours. ( Isaiah 55:8-9) Then another came to mind, "Nothing is impossible with God, because He has already been there"...in all our tomorrows, in every situation, and has seen and dealt with it all! The Cross is a perpetual Sacrifice that is ongoing in Mercy! The Lord Jesus Christ broke the curse and has the keys to death and hell! He went retroactive back to the beginning, is in our present, and already went into our future! He is all of these rolled into one! I am claiming the promises, not yet having obtained them but seeing them afar off...

So I began to thank Him for my job, for my health, my salvation, my family, our home, and all things as they came to mind. The music CD began to nourish and rekindle that fresh fire of the Holy Spirit deep within my soul...and the constant smile of that new employee who is on the same page with me...this is not our home, but we are grateful for it; because we have a reference point...the best is yet to come!

It is not my company, it is not my place, it is not my home---they can do whatever they wish with it...I do as I am told and the best I can, and if it is not enough...they can only do to me what God allows...so...my focus is up in Heaven and what is coming, not in fear or anger or depression. This is what they were talking about! While many are cussing, quitting, posting negativity to facebook and myspace--I am thanking Him for my job and letting it go...it's not my place. :-)