Home: Where Hope and Joy Are Waiting.

A few weeks ago I had the most wonderful opportunity. My sister and I went to see the Christian Comedian/Singer, Chonda Pierce's "Girl Talk". Not only were my cheeks sore by the end from laughing so hard, there was a surprise special guest. An australian "Steven Curtis Chapman" as Chonda compared, and she could not have been more right. He performed a few songs that truly reached my heart.

Please take a minute to listen and soak in 

Home by Nathan Tasker.

Can't See The Video? Click Here.

Have you ever stopped to looked out onto a vast body of water, or climbed a mountain and looked out onto a never-ending green landscape? 

What were you feeling in that moment? What were you thinking? 

Plenty of times I have looked out onto an ocean just taking in the amazing sight. Breathing in the fresh air that surrounds and listening to the pleasant sounds of nature. Birds chirping, waves crashing and the sound of my own slow breath. It is there in those moments that I experience a sliver of Gods promise of a new heaven and earth. I am at complete peace. It is then that I know that this life is not all there is, this is not the end. 

It is those moments of complete peace we need to hold onto while trudging through the daily struggles of life. We need to hold on to the hope, and promise that God gives us. 

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 

Revelation 21: 1-4

This life is just a temporary place to get us ready to live with Christ for Eternity. One of my favorite verses, Psalm 30:5 says: 

For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping my remain for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.

The sadness and pain we feel when a loved one has died, the despair we feel when nothing seems to go our way, the struggle of trying to survive in this life filled with negativity and wickedness. These things are all temporary because this is not our home. This life as we know it is just a stamp in our passport, because "in the end we're going home" our real home, in Heaven with God. 

This is the hope that we need remind ourselves in the midst of our daily battle. The hope that in the end the pain and suffering will be completely forgotten. 

I encourage you to listen to Nathan Tasker's Home again, because this song is like that sliver of hope that I feel when I am at complete peace enjoying God's creation.

It epitomizes that hope that we need to hold onto as we wait for Christ and the insurmountable joy and peace we will have when we are finally home. 

Are you going through some tough times right now? Are you loosing hope for the joy and peace that will come with going home? 

I challenge you to memorize the verses above, as well as the song because if you think of those things while in the midst of your trials I promise that your heart will feel a glimpse of the peace God has for you in his Kingdom and remind you that this life, indeed, is only temporary. 

If you don't have that hope or joy, I urge you to email me at TaraAtFaithinEveryDay@Gmail.com





photo credit: Douglas A Lewis via photopin cc