Not Home Yet
By Steve Hearts
The Lord, in His great love and care for us, is faithful to cause our lines to fall in pleasant places.1 These “pleasant places” can be anything from the place we live in to our workplace, church, ministry, you name it. With the passage of time, we can tend to become cozy and comfortable, and we allow our roots to gradually grow deep. So when the voice of His Spirit calls us to uproot and move on, we are more than a little shocked and taken by surprise.
This is how I felt when the Lord recently called me away from my previous mission field and longtime ministry in order to help tend to some family situations. Though I was certain that this move was a move of His Spirit, the uprooting process was difficult, as I’d been certain I would remain in that mission field and situation for many years. After we’d made our move and gotten settled into our new place, I frequently found myself wistfully looking back at where we’d come from.
It was during just such a moment the other day, when the nostalgia nearly overwhelmed me, that I remembered one of my favorite songs by Steven Curtis Chapman, “Not Home Yet.” I decided to listen to it. I had always loved this song for its beautiful message and, to me, ingenious musical arrangement. But as I heard it again a few days ago, my attention was focused only on the lyrics, which seemed to have been written just for me at that moment:
To all the travelers, pilgrims longing for a home
From one who walks with you
On this journey called life’s road
It is a long and winding road
From one who’s seen the view
Dreamt of staying on the mountains high
And one who’s cried like you
Wanting so much just to lay down and die
I offer this, we must remember this
We are not home yet, we are not home yet
Keep on looking ahead, let your heart not forget
We are not home yet.
For so long I had allowed myself to think I’d “arrived” at the place on earth where I would remain for the rest of my life, forgetting that as believers and followers of Jesus, our final “home” awaits us in the next life. As the song goes on to say:
So close your eyes with me
And hear the Father saying, “Welcome home”
Let us find the strength in all His promises to carry on
He said, “I’ll go prepare a place for you”
… So let us journey on.
… I know there'll be a moment, I know there’ll be a place
Where we will see our Savior and fall in His embrace
So let us not grow weary or too content to stay
’Cause we are not home yet
We are not home yet, not home yet.
Through this song, the Lord was clearly showing me that my life’s journey was not over. There was still unconquered territory to be conquered and unclaimed land to be claimed for the glory and kingdom of God.
I needed to remember that the real point of “arrival” would be when we meet Jesus face to face and hear Him lovingly welcome us home, as the song says. Even then, once the journey of this present life is finished, another exciting one will begin—that of eternity with Jesus, where we will continue to learn, grow, and progress.
I recalled one of the many pearls of wisdom Paul offers in Hebrews 13: “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.”2 Both Peter and Paul make it clear that this earth life is merely a pilgrimage.3
I take comfort in the fact that there is an eternal home waiting for me with Jesus in the life to come. I am not home yet, but will be eventually. Reminding myself of this truth makes times of change and transition easier.
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