When home is not a resting place...

I remember a season in my life a few years ago.  We were moving into a new home--trying to fix, pack and clean one while moving into the other.  I had just returned from a two-week trip out of the country.  Spring Break and Easter were nuzzled somewhere in the middle of it all on top of all sorts of spring-time goodness at the kids' school and extracurricular activities.

It was one of those seasons when I would wake up in the morning and first thing have a little panic as I tried to remember which day it was.  Every facet of our lives was busy...work, school, church, even home.  I remember feeling there was absolutely no place to just rest.  I jokingly asked my friend if I could come take a nap on her couch for a while because I was not actually responsible for anything in her house!    

We build our homes in the hopes that they would be a haven for us.  Home should be sacred a place, where we can unwind.  Where we can be real.  Where we can air our dirty laundry (literally!).  But inevitably home fails us from time to time.  Family strife.  Difficult phases of parenting.  Everything on the news (it's been a doozy here lately, hasn't it?).  Mud on the floor!  What do you do when home is not a place to rest??

I love what Ruth Chou Simons writes in her book Gracelaced...."A tidy home and sometimes a calm and quiet environment has often been my comfort--my shelter in the midst of crazy--messy seasons.  It was never meant to be."

Psalm 91:1-2 says, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'"

We look for shelter and refuge in all kinds of places, things and people, but God's word reminds us that it is the shelter of Him--who is Most High and Almighty--where we will truly find rest, where we truly find home.  We cannot rely on our physical surroundings to bring us peace, no matter how lovely the couch cushions are!  (Incidentally my couch cushions smell like socks)

That season eventually passed for us.  We got moved in and the other house sold.  Summer came and we all enjoyed the break from school.  I began to remember what day it was again!  Seasons come and seasons go.  Some stay longer than others, both in good and bad ways.  The only constant we can expect is the true and solid refuge of God.

Take shelter there, friends, and you will find rest.