I’ve mentioned before that the farm just up the hill from us is being developed into a subdivision. That has displaced many small animals and birds.
That includes brown rats. There is a misconception that brown rats carry bubonic plague, but the biggest carrier of the plague during the Dark Ages was humans, followed by black rats.
Still, even brown rats can be pests. Cute in their own way, and smart, but pests, nonetheless. I don’t mind them out in the wooded areas, but once they start visiting the yard, the rules change, and they have to go.
I don’t blame the rats for moving down the hill. After all, their home has been turned into a construction zone. I can empathize.
All believers are displaced people. We have been transferred out of the kingdom of this world into the Kingdom of God. As the old song (whose authorship is disputed) “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through, My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue; The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”
We are pilgrims, strangers in a hostile foreign land. That concept is threaded through Scripture but is particularly highlighted twice in Hebrews. “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” Hebrews 11:13 ESV
“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” Hebrews 13:14 ESV
Displaced pilgrims waiting to go home. Citizens of another land, refugees. Yet, we are far from homeless. The Kingdom of God is manifested in this life; we just won’t experience it in full until we get to glory.
When times get hard, when discouragement comes, don’t despair. We’re not home yet.
Hang fast, my dear friends, home is just around the corner.
Be blessed
Kevin
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