Lately, I have been identifying so much with Israel in the minor prophet books of the Bible and in their years of wandering before they were in their Promised Land.
I don't know if I feel for them because I feel like we are in a state of limbo right now, or just that I identify with how they kept walking away from God in sin.
Nothing is settled in our lives right now, we have a home in Quebec, but it is only for 3 more months before we come back to the States and pack up our lives to move to Niger indefinitely. To my kids, I have started to refer to home as wherever our bed is for the night, because our home keeps changing. We are constantly moving and packing up our entire house... I can count 4 times in the last year, and soon it will be six that we have packed up everything to move to the next place. Our life is unsettled, and it will continue to be so for years.
Then there is the sin that is so appealing. For me, my biggest struggle is pride. It gets so bad that I don't even notice it anymore. Then someone says something and I realize that I have hurt them because of my pride. I have treated them as if they are lesser than me, and, oh, they are not! But it is the easy way, and the way that I default to, because I don't want to put forth the effort that takes a lifestyle change. I wish it was as easy as a couple of action steps, but for me, it will take a mindset change.
Which brings me back to Israel, running away from God in their sin, God forgiving them and telling them that He will restore them to the home he has for them, never to uproot them again. Whether it is sin, or just an unsettled life, I take hope in the fact that God loves me so unconditionally that he will permanently provide a home for me and He will take me home to forgiveness and peace in Him.
"I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the Lord your God.
Amos 9:15
I don't know if I feel for them because I feel like we are in a state of limbo right now, or just that I identify with how they kept walking away from God in sin.
Nothing is settled in our lives right now, we have a home in Quebec, but it is only for 3 more months before we come back to the States and pack up our lives to move to Niger indefinitely. To my kids, I have started to refer to home as wherever our bed is for the night, because our home keeps changing. We are constantly moving and packing up our entire house... I can count 4 times in the last year, and soon it will be six that we have packed up everything to move to the next place. Our life is unsettled, and it will continue to be so for years.
Then there is the sin that is so appealing. For me, my biggest struggle is pride. It gets so bad that I don't even notice it anymore. Then someone says something and I realize that I have hurt them because of my pride. I have treated them as if they are lesser than me, and, oh, they are not! But it is the easy way, and the way that I default to, because I don't want to put forth the effort that takes a lifestyle change. I wish it was as easy as a couple of action steps, but for me, it will take a mindset change.
Which brings me back to Israel, running away from God in their sin, God forgiving them and telling them that He will restore them to the home he has for them, never to uproot them again. Whether it is sin, or just an unsettled life, I take hope in the fact that God loves me so unconditionally that he will permanently provide a home for me and He will take me home to forgiveness and peace in Him.
"I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the Lord your God.
Amos 9:15
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