How to Make Yourself at Home
I’ve just followed God’s people through the book of Jeremiah into their tragic exile in Babylon. They had rejected God’s word and ignored His intervention, unwilling to change their ways, and so the consequences God had warned them about, finally came. Their deportation occurred in waves over the course of 17 years as hundreds or thousands of them at a time were taken captive (Jeremiah 52:28-30).
How they must have mourned all that they lost. A move itself is difficult enough emotionally and spiritually, but a move as divine judgment could have clothed them in sackcloth and ashes for the rest of their lives. They could have justifiably lived in their new location in a perpetual state of grief and disconnection, veiled in black and living in the past. But the most shocking thing about this discipline for their sin is God’s four-fold instruction to them regarding their new home:
“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce.
Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.
But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile,
and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:5-7
His message is essentially, Make yourself at home, and here’s how to do it.
At the end of this summer, Nate and I will celebrate 20 years of marriage. Over those years, we’ve lived in 4 states, 1 foreign country, and 9 apartments or houses along the way. That’s certainly not a record, but it’s more moves than I imagined for our family. Although none of our relocations happened for reasons like Judah’s all those millennia ago, the four-fold strategy God gave His people back then has served us well each time we’ve found ourselves in a new place:
Don’t live out of boxes. Unpack, decorate, garden, and live each day with a long-term mindset, rather than a temporary one. A temporary mindset is tempting, because it’s self-protection against the effort involved in starting over and the pain of eventual departure. But tears about leaving are better than cheers that you’re leaving.
Cultivate and celebrate new beginnings. Build deep enough relationships in the new place that you throw wedding showers and baby showers. God’s type of love multiplies, so with Him, you have enough love to keep giving.
Sarcasm about the new place or comparison to the last place delays your adjustment and denies God’s leadership. Instead, make it a better place because of your presence there with the experiences and insights you bring to it. Contribute to its good; don’t tear it down.
When you pray, include the geographical place where you live. Its peace will be your peace. Prayer softens our hearts, and that’s the change God is really after in His plan for our peace.
Gaps between the Maps
Every time I sit down at our dining table, my eyes look up at three framed maps of the places we lived prior to moving to Indiana.
They hang on the wall, representing deep friendships and good times and also detours. Each city had its construction zone, where the way forward wasn’t so clear, and roadblocks took us the long way around.
Even more confusing, though, is the two-inch wall space between each picture frame, reminding me of the transition period that somehow bridged one location to the next. Transitions in life feel like they’re off the grid, too blurry to be captured in an actual piece of art. They don’t have names because they’re in between.
The Israelites’ connection between Egypt and the Promised Land was forty gap years in a desert. When they finally crossed that bridge, Moses gave them this reminder in Deuteronomy 8:2, “Remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years…”
Years that could be described as wandering in the wilderness were still a season under God’s leadership, and recalling how He led them could equip their faith for their next destination. The verse goes on, pointing out two specific aspects of God’s leadership during that season of transition:
Teaching them humility
Testing their obedience
Humility and obedience don’t initially seem like indicators of God’s leadership, but they highlight how He brings transitions across our path for the purpose of leading our hearts. For those times when our feet have entered uncharted territory, we can ask how has He led my heart into humility and obedience? Evidence of His leadership in these areas is meant to strengthen our faith.
Faith is strengthened, not by envisioning an imaginary future, but by looking back on the past, recognizing that we have a God who led us the whole way, even across the gaps between the maps.
Artwork for heart-work
From where I stand at my kitchen island, packing our boys’ lunches this morning, I look across the room at two pieces of botanical artwork, framed and hanging together on the wall. They’re just vintage reproductions, so they hold no monetary value, but they’re significant for other reasons. They symbolize reassurance, whether I’m doubting God’s plan, God’s timing, or His purpose for me.
The first image is an almond branch, and I love the story it stirs up in my heart. God chose Jeremiah to bring His message to Israel, but it was an intimidating calling for Jeremiah to consider. He looked inward and didn’t feel capable - an honest evaluation of himself! But God graciously reassures Jeremiah that it will be through God’s Word in his mouth and God’s presence with him that enable Jeremiah to do what God created him to do.
Then, Jeremiah has a vision of an almond branch, a play on words in Hebrew that sounds like the verb watching. God explains His illustration: “…for I am watching over my word to perform it.” Jeremiah 1:12
And every time Jeremiah passed an almond tree on his way to speak to the crowds, he could remember the One who was watching. God hadn’t forgotten what He’d said. No matter how long it took, or how it was received, His Word would be fulfilled. It wouldn’t come about because of Jeremiah’s vigilance or ability but because of God’s watchful gaze over His Word. His promises are sure because He’s never let them out of His sight.
The other frame displays a pear, the fruit I always pick out when it’s too hard; then I either wait too long or bite into it too early. Ugh! Such a waste! There’s nothing quite like perfectly ripened fruit that’s had the time it’s needed to develop behind the scenes, attached to the life-giving vine. This growth cycle isn’t familiar to most of us, living modern lifestyles disconnected from the rhythms of vineyards, orchards, and farmland, but we know fruit is best when it’s actually in season.
The psalmist describes what can happen when our lives are like fruit trees with roots buried deep in the soil of God’s Word: “The one whose delight is in the law of the Lord is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither.” Psalm1:3
Life’s seasons can’t be fast-tracked. But there is a guarantee of fruit, a promise of harvest in the right season, if we soak in the source of life, God’s Word. When we do, our growth behind the scenes will yield fruit.
God is watching. No time with Him is wasted.
Faith: all the time & for all the flames
“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”
Different body parts and diverse battles require specific armor. A helmet isn’t ideal to protect the chest, and shin guards can only do so much for the head. Swords can’t swat away bullets. But there’s a piece of armor designed to be a one-size-covers-all item as the first line of defense against an attack.
In the spiritual battle, it’s the full-body shield of faith. Darts descend on us only to pelt against our shield of faith. The enemy approaches from any angle only to be thwarted by our shield of faith. Fiery arrows whiz straight toward us, only to be absorbed, repelled, deflected, and extinguished by the shield of faith.
But because of the shield’s multi-purpose protection at all times and for all the flames, it’s our faith that gets burned and bears some of the deepest scars from battle. During a cease-fire, you may have realized that your faith feels worn out. In that stillness, have you turned your shield around to examine its condition?
Imagine looking at the surface area of this large shield as if it’s comprised of faith categories: at one corner might be your beliefs about God’s character; at another corner, all that you believe about God’s power; maybe the middle portion is what you believe about God’s Word; still other parts of the shield might be your faith regarding God’s people and God’s plan. Often, the arrows pierce again and again at just one section of our beliefs to weaken that specific area. On what part of your shield have the arrows clustered together?
Maybe your faith about God’s character has been splintered. Perhaps your belief about His power is falling apart; maybe your trust in His Word is coming undone. It could be that relationships with God’s people are being chipped away, little by little. God’s plan for you might feel sub-par. Left without reinforcement, even the slightest hole in our shield can lead to our take-down.
To our relief, though, God is in the shield restoration business. Materials we need for repairs are never on back-order. He’s not short on help, at a loss for all the damage done, or disgusted when we slide our shield across the counter to Him. The question is whether we’ll pick up the tools He offers us to rebuild with Him. His Word functions like a toolbox full of truth to reinforce our faith. Recognizing where our faith has been weakened and applying the reinforcement of specific truth is how the battle actually becomes the catalyst for strengthening our shield of faith instead of destroying it.
What specific truth needs to be applied to an area of your faith as reinforcement for it?
Foot-long Leadership
I’m crossing the threshold of 2024 in reverence for the holy ground of one foot. Let me explain.
I usually want the Lord to lead me in mile-long strides, reaching goals far off on the horizon in a single jump. When I look for Him to work on that scale, though, it can start to feel like God isn’t active in my life or answering prayer at all. That’s because I’ve overlooked His direction that most often comes in foot-long increments. Although He is completely capable of guiding us in leaps and bounds, the believer’s life is described as walking with God - miles, divided into feet.
With a shoe size of 9.5, my walking shoes measure around one foot long. Yes, that’s the larger end of women’s shoes, but, in terms of walking, a 12-inch step is really not a lot of ground covered. Yet following one after the next, they will eventually add up to one mile. One after the next, there is progress.
And God’s leadership is like that. He can do exceedingly more than we ask or think, but He so often does it by dividing a mile into 5,280 feet. He takes us by the hand, and He sets a pace we can match, if we just put one foot in front of the other along with Him. Twelve inches of faith. One foot of prayer. Twelve inches of goals. One foot of guidance.
Whatever your resolutions, may you anticipate and experience the holy ground of God’s foot-long leadership as you step into the New Year.