We're Getting a House!! (part 1)

Let me clarify that title. 

Last Friday, we saw a house get posted. It's the first one we've liked. By Sunday, we put in an offer. Yesterday, the home owners looked at the offers and decided not to go with ours. Talk about an emotional roller coaster ride. 

"Don't worry! God has something better in mind for you!"

Yeah. I've told myself that. I've even told Rachel that. But let's check with Scripture here. Does God promise that when an opportunity gets shot down that He will always deliver a better one?

No. It does not. God does not promise that for His people. Instead, what we see is the call to suffer and endure. That may mean that we lose a job and cannot find a better one. That may mean that we find out that our loved ones are sick and will not be healed. And yes-- that may very well mean that the house we fell in love with is not given to us, but instead, we're given a house that is less. Less pretty, less convenient, less space, less yard, less dreamy. That is a reality we must be prepared for. 

Nonetheless, Jesus is still worthy of worship. Because we are still getting a House:

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also"

-John 14:1-3

He opens with a line of comfort, "Let not your hearts be troubled." Only two chapters later, Jesus says, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

When life doesn't go our way, it is easy to be shaken and the peace taken from us. His invitation is to have peace, but the source is singular: "in Me you may have peace." Not circumstances. He reminds His disciples that He is going to prepare a place for them. The same God who called Creation into being is now on a new project-- a sequel to the first. In this next Creation, He is now the new Adam (Romans 5). 

The best part is that not only is He the builder/architect/contractor. Jesus next line is warm and welcoming, "I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." We get to be with Jesus. The House He is preparing isn't just fit for humans, but it is fitting for God. Jesus came into our lowly world. Because of the resurrection, us lowly humans get to go into His world and live with God Himself. He is simultaneously the builder, owner, agent, seller, and buyer. 

He is building it for us.

He negotiated on our behalf. 

He bought it for us with His blood. 

Believing in God and believing in Jesus does not guarantee me a dream home on Earth. Rather, the promise is much grander! The promise from Jesus is that my true "forever Home" is currently under construction on the best lot and property in the entire universe. It will be so grand that "... no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor 2:9).

Perhaps by sheer grace God grants us a beautiful home here while we await for Him to return or call us Home. If so, blessed be His Name! And if not, that does not detract from the promise of Christ. Blessed be His Name! 

Our next home is not an indicator of God's worth or beauty. The Believer's hope and joy is not in what God provides here, but in what the promise of the resurrection means-- we're getting a House!!

-written 5/4/2021