Megan Evans
Women’s Ministry Director, LHBC
John 14:1-3 (ESV)
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
When our roles and surroundings change, it can feel scary. We all want a place to belong. We need security. From the time we are young, we begin to form an understanding of “home.” But, whether these understandings of home are secure and healthy or not, Jesus promises us an eternal home that is perfect, secure, and welcoming.
As a new bride one of the hardest adjustments I ever had to make was leaving “home.” Yes, home was my family and the walls I grew up in, but also the roads I drove, the Ozark mountains I could see in the distance, and the familiar seasons in my corner of geography. Home was security and familiarity. As school and military moved my husband and I to different parts of the world, it became harder and harder to hold on to the familiar version of “home” I had always known. I still didn’t want to let go.
Paul Tournier’s A Place For You uses the illustration of a trapeze artist who must let go of one handhold in order to move on to the next one. In our life, the space in between handholds can be scary and uncertain but leads to growth and maturity. Tournier explains that ultimately we have to learn to cope with this space between handholds. As a well-known Swiss Psychologist, he notes many case studies that illustrate uncertainty in that space and mankind’s struggle to find self and a place to belong; and as a Christian, he concludes that ultimately we find our self and our place in God.
When we attach our identity and sense of belonging to anything other than Christ, we will be left feeling empty and homeless. Because we think in terms of time and space, we forget that our ultimate identity and place is eternal. John 14 reminds us that home is with the Father.
The most freeing season of my life was learning how to let go of one handhold and trust God while I was leapt to the next place in life. Our whole outlook changes when we trust in God (vs 14:1). We can stop searching. We can rest. We can enjoy who we are and where we are today because our identity is found in Christ and in the presence of God. A new address becomes an exciting new mission field. A new role or season of life becomes an opportunity to grow and mature. Relationships become outlets for God’s love.
How about you? Do you find yourself today dangling from a handhold, scared to grab the next? Are you stuck in the space between rings? Jesus tells us, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;] believe also in me.” We can take the next step because of Jesus. What a secure foundation and identity we have even though our surroundings and circumstances may be changing around us. There is a place for you every day-and that is in Christ Jesus.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father God, you are my sure foundation that never changes even when there is uncertainty in my life. My identity is in Christ alone–grow me and teach me to look more and more like Jesus to the world around me. Help me embrace where I live and work today as my mission field, and to take bold steps when I need to follow you to the next place you call me. In Jesus Name, Amen.
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
Psalm 118:24
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.