“So, are you happy to be home?” 

It sounds so simple, but what a difficult question to answer when the idea of “home” is so elusive! Home is where my parents live, with my supporting churches, in the city where I grew up and went to college, in my country of service where we have put down roots, in the communities where we minister, wherever my husband and kids and I are together…home is everywhere and nowhere. 

Moses knew what it felt like to be constantly on the move. He lived in slavery, in the palace, in exile from Egypt, and spent 40 years wandering through the wilderness, living in between God’s deliverance and his promised inheritance. I wonder if he was thinking about his own lack of a stable physical home when he wrote of God as his dwelling place. He experienced the faithfulness of God like no one else – when there was nothing else to depend on, when he had no way to provide even the basic food and water needed to survive, when death seemed to threaten on every side, God was there. God’s provision, protection, and most importantly His presence visibly surrounded him and led him. 

When I feel insecure about my situation or uncertain about the future – when I feel that lack of home -- it shows. I turn inward, just try to get myself and my family through the day, and shy away from making plans. But when I choose to be like Moses, I can see the faithfulness of God. I can make my home in the everlasting. I can have the peace and strength I imagine a stable physical home would give me, no matter what changes life throws at me. Because we all know, especially from the challenges the whole world has faced in the past few years, that what we think is stable might not be. Everything can change in a moment. But we can dwell in the presence of the ONLY thing that is unchanging, that is truly faithful. And from that place we can draw strength to be a faithful presence in our families and communities, no matter how long or short our time there might be. Our lives can point others to the Faithful One.